The Edge of a Dream & a Nightmare
by Bluebell Winter
Summary: Marianne Strife is a lot of things, but three things are for certain: she's seventeen years old, a meta-human who can manipulate fire, and a clairvoyant. When she joins Team Flash, she can't help but think that it's a dream come true, but is it really, with danger lurking around every corner? Season 4.
1. Introducing Marianne Strife

A/N: I know this is a rewrite of The Edge of a Dream & a Nightmare, but I think that it needed a massive rewrite because I thought that it needed to be written better. This takes place before Season 4.

The face-claim to Marianne is Kaya Scodelario.

The face-claim to Asher is Tanner Stine.

The face-claim to Jake is Ashton Moio.

* * *

"_Knocked off my feet, the earth moved beneath,  
__The edge of a dream and a nightmare._"

Out From Under - Red

* * *

Chapter 1: **Introducing Marianne Strife**

* * *

Cisco thought he was going to have a good day when he walked in The Scoop, a new ice cream shop that had opened up, but he turned out to be wrong. He went to the counter where the teenage girl was standing. She had black hair in two little braids and when he approached the counter, the teen girl smiled widely at him. She was wearing a pink polo shirt with her name-tag on it. She wore a studded wristband on her right wrist.

"Good afternoon, Cisco," the teen greeted. "How may I help you?"

Cisco looked at the menu and gave her what he wanted.

"This will be on the house," the girl said.

Cisco looked at her name tag, to see that her name was Marianne Strife. Confused, he asked, "What?"

"It's going to be on the house," Marianne said as she went to get Cisco's ice cream. "After all, it's not everyday a hero walks in."

Cisco chuckled nervously, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Marianne laughed, "I'm just messing with you." She looked serious, "Don't worry too much. You're going to get your friends back."

Cisco was now a little suspicious, "What do you mean by '_get my friends back_'?"

Marianne looked at him, "You look like the type of person who lost someone. My dad had that look after his best friend went missing. She was found safe, though."

Cisco nodded not believing her, "Right. Is there an aura around me or something? A neon sign saying so?" His voice was a bit sharp than what was warranted but he was worried. What exactly did Marianne know? And how did she know this? This was way to specific for a 'lucky guess'.

Marianne played with her ring, which was silver and had crescent moons and stars stamped on it. It looked like the crescent moon and stars were in a pattern, starting from the crescent moon and three stars, one big, then small, and big again, followed by the crescent moon. There was a blue topaz put in between the small and big star.

She looked like she was debating something and she shook her head. "I've been told that I can sometimes read people very well."

Cisco eyed the teen suspiciously, not believing her for even a second. He nodded anyway, "Right."

Marianne smiled again and held out the cup of ice cream to Cisco. "Well, here's your ice cream."

Cisco grabbed it and felt his fingers brush against the ring that Marianne was wearing.

Suddenly he was pulled into a vision.

_He was standing in a church, along with Marianne, who looked around. There was a line of Nazis holding rifles standing at what looked to be the entrance of the church._

_"Nazis?" asked Marianne, looking at the swarm and up to the woman that was floating in midair above the Nazis._

_"I know, right?" replied Cisco, gaping at the sight before him. He turned to look at Marianne, noticing that she was wearing a pink, pleated skirt. The vision shifted and there was a samurai walking through what looked like a four part alley._

_"Is…is that a samurai?" Marianne asked. She squinted at the samurai. "Samurai Jack?"_

_"I think you're too young to remember that," Cisco said._

_"Never underestimate the power of the internet," Marianne said. "And never underestimate your nostalgic dad. Or revivals of the show. Or Blu-ray."_

The vision ended, causing the two to stumble backwards.

Cisco looked at Marianne bewildered, but for some reason Marianne didn't seem to be surprised over what she had had happened. Instead she was the one who seemed a little curious.

"What did you see?" Marianne asked, sounding giddy over it.

Cisco was a little bit confused over how Marianne seemed to take it. He looked at Marianne and shrugged. "What did you see?"

Marianne shrugged and the bell over the door went off. Marianne looked over and smiled once more. She looked at Cisco, "Have a nice day."

Cisco nodded, a little wary now. "You too." _Who_ was this girl? _What_ was this girl? He left The Scoop, thinking over the interaction and feeling unsettled. He just realized that he didn't even tell that girl his name, which was even more weird. But the good thing was that he had her name. All he had to do was look into her a little.

* * *

That was how he found himself looking into Marianne's Facebook. He didn't really learn much about her, other than that Marianne's eighteenth birthday was on November, that she was adopted by a single-parent, who turned out to be her dad, and she was in a 'complicated relationship' with a boy named Asher Thorne which started three months ago, even though they've been dating for six months.

Cisco wasn't sure how 'complicated' a teenage romance could even get.

He also saw that she made predictions on who would win in sports, all of which turned out to be true, which was a little unnerving, but it could've been lucky guesses, although in his opinion it was a little _to_ lucky. He also saw that Marianne seemed to be a lover of space themed stuff, posting pictures of night skies, galaxy prints, and all that stuff.

He also saw that despite the complicated relationship between Asher and Marianne, it didn't seem all that complicated, especially over their interactions in the comments. He figured that maybe off of Facebook, it was. There was also a boy named Jake Alexander that seemed like good friends with Marianne and Asher, being included in pictures of Asher and Marianne. It was interesting to note that Marianne always wore punk looking clothes while the two boys wore all black or dark colored clothes.

Cisco noticed that Marianne was always in between Asher, the dark haired boy with shoulder-length hair, and Jake, the black haired boy with shaggy-looking hair. Apparently Jake had dyed his hair red again three months prior. In some pictures Marianne would be pressed up against Asher, front-to-front and in others Marianne would be pressed up against Jake front-to-front, as well.

Cisco was positive that he wouldn't let his girlfriend, if he had one, be pressed up against Barry like that, even if he and Barry were good friends.

He scrolled through the pictures, sometimes there weren't pictures of Marianne pressing up against either boy, but the three of them were always standing close together. In the recent pictures, he noticed how Jake had started wearing a black-and-blue studded wristband.

Cisco had scrolled through some older pictures of Asher and Marianne who had shared pictures together, without Jake, that Asher wore a black-and-red studded wristband while Marianne wore a studded wristband that was purple-and-black. There were some pictures of Jake and Asher together, where Jake didn't wear a wristband. Cisco wondered why Jake decided to suddenly get one.

He saw that there were multiple pictures of a young Marianne doing things with her dad, like fishing, or being at Disneyland, or even hanging out at a mall together. There were some of her as a baby. There were also pictures with random quotes on it, like one that said, "_It's okay if you don't like me. Not everyone has good taste" _and the other, "_It's all fun and games until you get shampoo in your mouth, then it just becomes a soap opera._" There was one that even said, "_Monogamy is overrated_."

He stopped on a picture of Asher kissing a surprised looking Jake on the cheek and decided that it was time to leave the photo album. He went back to scrolling through her updates. He stopped on a message that said:_"'I'd burn the world for you and I.' - Let Go by Hollywood Undead."_

He kept scrolling and stopped on a picture of a hole in a wall with the message: "_So which one of you boys is man enough to tell my dad you put another hole in our wall?_"

Cisco almost snorted at that. He scrolled and stopped on a picture of a galaxy themed curtain that looked burnt. There was a message: "_If you ever feel stupid, be glad that you weren't the one that accidentally caught your curtains on fire._"

Cisco admittedly chuckled at that.

"Why are you stalking some teenage girl's Facebook?" Wally asked.

Cisco jumped and sort of flailed around, before looking up at Wally. He stuttered, "I-I'm not stalking her. What gave you that idea?"

"I watched you scroll through her Facebook for five minutes," Wally said, smiling like he found it funny.

"Five minutes? Couldn't you have done something better with those minutes than watch me?" asked Cisco.

"I was just wondering why you were stalking her Facebook, though," Wally said.

"I meet her at that new ice cream place and she knew my name somehow," Cisco said.

Wally shrugged, "Not enough reason to stalk her Facebook."

Cisco continued, "She knew that Barry and Caitlin are gone. She said '_don't worry, you're going to get your friends back_.' How would she know that our friends are gone?"

Wally crossed his arms, "Okay. That is a little weird."

Cisco looked at Wally and continued, "I accidentally touched her ring and I had two Vibes. And after that was done, she didn't even think it was terrifying or freaky that she was pulled into it. She asked me what I saw, sounding happy about it. And she knows that I'm the Vibe. If she knows that, what else does she know about us?"

Wally stopped smiling and was now frowning. "Okay, that is a little weird."

"Yeah," Cisco said. "So, I'm just looking to see if she might be a future enemy."

"You want me to go check her out?" Wally asked.

Cisco looked at him, "I think you should rephrase that. She's seventeen." He looked at Marianne's relationship status again. "And she has a boyfriend, too."

"Says the one that's stalking her Facebook," countered Wally.

"For a good reason," Cisco said.

Iris walked in at the moment and looked at them. "Who's stalking a Facebook?"

"Cisco," said Wally quickly.

Iris looked at Cisco, "Why?"

"I'm just trying to make sure that we won't have a future enemy on our hands," Cisco said.

"He got unnerved by a seventeen-year-old girl," Wally said to Iris.

Iris momentarily cracked a grin, before frowning again, "Really?" Cisco recounted what he had told Wally, making Iris falter momentarily. Iris blinked, "Well, stop stalking her Facebook. It's weird."

Cisco logged out and pocketed his phone, deciding that he'll finish looking through it later.

* * *

A/N: I promise the next chapter will be longer.


	2. We Want You For Team Flash

A/N: Takes place pre-season 4.

* * *

Chapter 2: **We Want You For Team Flash**

* * *

One Week Later

Cisco was still looking at Marianne's Facebook, although not as obsessively as Iris and Wally kept saying. There wasn't anything villainy that she posted, although there was one update that he kept coming back to: "_Let it be known that if your hurt my boys, call the cops so they can protect you from me."_

Cisco had no clue why she would post that, considering that she was at Jitters with Asher and Jake, considering the picture she posted. She was in between the two boys in a booth, which Cisco almost shook his head at. She was always in between the two boys. He didn't get it.

He had scrolled through the updates some more only stopping to watch a lyric video by the band Sixx:A.M. had posted on Youtube. Cisco's first thought when he saw the band name was, _That's not a band name, that's a time of day._

Iris walked in and looked at Cisco, "Stop stalking her Facebook. We need to look over the city."

"I'm not stalking her," Cisco retorted. "How would you even know if I was or wasn't?"

Iris chose to ignore that comment by looking over the monitors. Cisco looked at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Iris said in a clipped tone.

"Okay," Cisco muttered, "I was just asking."

"Cisco," Iris stated and Cisco looked at her. "I _really_ am fine. But thanks for asking."

Cisco didn't believe her, "Okay."

Iris looked at the monitor, "And stop stalking that girl. You're not going to help stop crime if you're stalking someone."

"I'm not stalking anyone," Cisco replied.

"Sure you aren't," Iris said.

Cisco decided to ignore that.

* * *

Marianne rubbed her hand which was bandaged because she had some very hot chocolate spill on her hand by a very nervous waitress.

Marianne said, "who orders hot chocolate that hot?"

"Hey!" a man shouted from behind them.

They turned around to face a blond man, who was pointing a gun at them.

"What?" snapped Marianne.

"Give me your money," the man demanded.

"Just give us a moment," Asher said and the three turned around, and leaned in close together.

"Give me a moment to fry that guy's hand. He might drop his weapon," Marianne said.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the man shouted.

Marianne turned around to face him and yelled, "In a minute!" She turned her back on him and dropped her voice to a whisper again, "One minute. That's all I need."

"Give me your money now or the girl gets it," the man demanded.

The three teens turned around to look at him.

"What do you mean by 'gets it'?" asked Marianne. The mugger pointed the gun at her. "Oh, you mean put a bullet in me."

The mugger looked confused at the lack of reactions he was getting. "I'm pointing a gun at the three of you."

"Congratulations," Asher said, crossing his arms. He turned around and suddenly a gunshot rang out.

The mugger had shot at the empty space that was beside Marianne, which was strange because Asher was now standing next to Jake, right next to Jitters. Marianne was now the closest to the street. "What the—"

Marianne ran over and tackled the mugger to the ground. She started smacking at him, catching his jacket sleeve on fire. "Don't you dare shoot at my boyfriend again!" She grabbed the lapels of his jacket, catching that on fire, too, but the next thing she knew she was being thrown into a room, that had blue squares on it. Instantly she got a strange tingly feeling, and she turned around, almost hitting the screen. She hit the screen with her good hand, and shouted, "Hey! Where the hell am I?" She looked around the cell and frowned. She yelled, "What if I need to take a piss?"

_S.T.A.R. Labs_, she thought. Actually the words just came to her, but she knew she was right. "Hey! Am I in S.T.A.R. Labs?" She crossed her arms and scowled. Then she grew worried. Her boys. Where they okay? "Hey! Is Asher and Jake okay?"

No one came to answer her questions. She sat down, stretching her legs out and crossed her ankles, so she didn't flash anyone her because she was wearing a skirt. "I'm seventeen! This is kidnapping! It's illegal in all fifty states! Including this one!"

A person appeared and it was Cisco standing there at the door. Marianne stood up and went to the door. "Finally!" She glared at Cisco, "How's Asher and Jake?"

"They're fine," Cisco said. He looked at Marianne and accused, "You're a meta-human."

Marianne looked at him and played with the studded wristband on her right wrist. "So?"

"You're a fire meta-human," Cisco started.

Marianne snapped, expecting to create a spark or flame, but nothing happened. So that was what that weird tingly feeling was. It was her powers being sapped. "Yeah, so?"

"You work in an ice cream shop," Cisco pointed out.

Marianne gave him a sly smile, "It was supposed to be ironic."

Iris walked in and crossed her arms as she glared at Cisco. "You're not supposed to be making friends with her."

"Exactly why am I in here?" asked Marianne.

"You were trying to burn a man," replied Iris.

"I was defending my boyfriend," replied Marianne. "That guy shot at him."

"Well, on the camera, it didn't look like that," replied Iris.

Marianne stared at Iris, "What?"

"Yeah, the man shot at the empty space beside you and now he's freaking out about how your boyfriend was standing next to you, yet, on the camera, your boyfriend was standing next to the other guy," Cisco explained.

"You mean Jake?" Marianne asked.

"Yeah, him," replied Cisco.

Iris looked at Marianne, "Better explain."

"The mugger must've been high and seeing double," replied Marianne. "Or he was just getting weird."

Cisco and Iris glanced at each other, before Iris looked at her phone, "According to Kid Flash, that guy was not on drugs."

Marianne shrugged, "I'm not going to tell you anything. That's between the three of us. And the guy shot first and he has no reason to be trying to mug teens. And I was trying to protect civilians, so therefore I'm not a bad person. And I was aiming for his jacket, not his limbs or his head."

Cisco looked at Iris, "She's got a point."

Kid Flash ran in and Marianne looked at the group, frowning.

"You know how to control your powers," Iris said.

"I had them for about four years," Marianne said. "I better know how to control them."

Kid Flash was looking at Marianne, "Your first instinct was to protect your boyfriend instead of using them for good."

Marianne shrugged, "I'm protective of my boys and my dad. I don't want any harm to come to them. I just want to protect them. And if it means using my powers, I will use them."

"Wait. That day in the ice cream shop. You know who we are," Cisco started. "How?"

"That is a matter for another time," Marianne said playing with her wristband.

"No, explain," Iris demanded.

Marianne blinked, "I get visions of the future." Wally sputtered and Marianne looked at him. "When I get visions of the future, it's usually five or six per year. I'm more prediction-based, which is how I know your real name is Wally West." She looked at Iris, "That's how I know you're Iris West. And Barry Allen is the Flash." She looked at Cisco, "And that's how I know you're Francisco Ramon, also known as the Vibe. And I don't know where Caitlin Snow is, but I know she's Killer Frost."

Iris looked at the two boys, who seemed surprised. "Are you really believing her?"

"A little," Wally said, removing the mask that was part of his suit.

"Explains how she knew what I wanted when I went inside The Scoop," Cisco said.

Iris looked at Marianne, "We're going to need a little more than just you knowing our names without us introducing ourselves to you. Or their code-names."

Marianne looked at Iris closely and frowned, "You're going to be Iris West-Allen. Nazis or maybe neo-Nazis are going to invade your wedding." She looked at the corner of the Pipeline. "You're going to get married in a public place, I think. A blonde woman and a blond man are going to get married alongside you and Barry." She squinted at the corner, "I think their names start with a F and O. Oliver is the Green Arrow." She looked at the adults, who each took a step back, because her pupils had expanded to cover up her irises. "What?"

Wally scratched the back of his head, "Your pupils—"

"I know," Marianne said. "They do that when I make predictions." She looked down. "I'm now getting a slight headache."

"Do you believe her now?" Wally asked Iris.

Iris pursed her lips together, "No."

Marianne shrugged, "It's fine. Most people don't."

Kid Flash looked at her, "Okay, moving on to your fire abilities. How about you turn the protective feeling for your dad and your two friends and expand that feeling into protecting the whole city?"

Marianne looked at him, "Are you—"

"Can I talk to you?" Iris interrupted glaring at Wally. "In private?" She took Wally by the arm and dragged him away.

Cisco looked at Marianne, "That day at the ice cream shop, there was that weird vision-thing…you didn't seem to be to freaked out about having that."

Marianne ran her hand through her hair, "That was actually a vision of the future."

Cisco scoffed, "Vision of the future?"

"I can see the future," Marianne stated.

"And all of a sudden you're psychic now," Cisco accused.

"It's more complicated than that," Marianne said. "I don't regularly get visions of the future. Only when something major is going to happen, I get visions. Like last week, that was the first one I had in six months. I think Nazis or at least, neo-Nazis, are going to show up, but I don't know what the samurai is all about though. I was excited that I was actually in the vision instead of seeing it in first person like I usually do. I just wonder why, though."

Cisco frowned, "I accidentally touched you, so I may have accidentally vibed your vision. So I may have transported you into my vibe."

Marianne looked at Cisco, frowning. "If I grabbed your wrist, do you think we may see it again? For clues?"

Cisco looked suspiciously at Marianne, remembering Linda's doppelgänger. "You're not going to trick me are you?"

Marianne shook her head, "No." She held up her hand, "Scout's honor, even though I was never a girl scout. My dad didn't want me to be a girl scout, considering what happened to those girl scouts in Oklahoma in 1977."

Cisco didn't want to know and went to open the chamber that Marianne was in.

Meanwhile:

Iris was glaring at Wally, "You just can't ask someone to join Team Flash."

"It's Team Kid Flash now," Wally corrected.

Iris grimaced and shook her head, "No. You're only asking her to join because you think she's pretty."

Wally shook his head, "No." A little more firmer, he said, "No. I just think that she would be a great addition to the team, you know." Iris crossed her arms and gave Wally a look. "She protected her boyfriend and his friend, so she might be a good hero. And she didn't hurt the mugger. She's got…potential. Who knows what can she do if we help her expand on her powers by allowing her to join the team." Wally added, "And besides, it might be fun to have a sidekick."

Iris gave him a look but relented. "Fine, but she's your responsibility if something bad happens."

"Okay," Wally said shrugging.

The West siblings walked back in the Pipeline, seeing Cisco and Marianne stepping away from each other quickly. Cisco looked a little rattled and Marianne turned to face the Wests. "Yes?"

Iris looked at Cisco and demanded, "You let her out?"

Cisco looked at Iris, "She's harmless."

"Is everyone going to ignore me today?" Iris demanded and turned to Wally. "You tell her the news." She stomped out of the Pipeline.

Marianne looked confused, "Is she okay?"

"She lost her fiancé a couple of months ago," Wally said to Marianne.

"Your friend who disappeared instead of running away," Marianne said.

"Yeah," Wally said.

Cisco looked confused, "What was it that Iris wanted to tell her?"

Wally looked at Marianne, "Welcome to the team." He paused, "If you want to join."

Marianne's mouth opened and closed a few times. "'_If I want to join_?'" She blinked, "Are you kidding? Of course I want to join!"

"Okay, we need a code-name for you," Cisco said.

"Phoenix," Marianne said.

Cisco blinked, "What?"

Marianne was a little confused, "My code-name will be Phoenix."

"I pick the code-names around here." Cisco said, a little insulted at the fact that he wasn't allowed to have time to think about a code-name for her.

"Oh, so they're Cisco-Patented," Marianne said and muttered, "Great."

"Phoenix is pretty good," Cisco admitted.

Marianne smiled, "I can't wait to tell my dad. This is the best day of my life. Probably second to when Asher and I—" She paused, "I'll go tell them, too." She left the Pipeline.

Wally and Cisco looked at each other at that. Wally started, "She probably means when she and Asher—"

"I know," Cisco interrupted and started to leave. "I guess I need to start on ideas of making her a suit."

"What were you two doing anyway?" Wally asked before Cisco could even leave the Pipeline.

Cisco explained that he was trying to vibe the vision that Marianne had, which was the same vision he had in the ice cream shop the previous week.

"Hey," Wally said, "A fire meta-human that works in an ice cream shop."

"I think she said something about how it was supposed to be ironic," Cisco said and left.

* * *

A/N: This part: _"The mugger must've been high and seeing double," replied Marianne. "Or he was just getting weird."_ was actually a reference to Hollywood Undead's song: _Party by Myself_.

And I know about how there are comic book characters named Phoenix, but I hadn't chosen a code-name for Marianne, but then Phoenix came to mind and now I can't think of anything other than Phoenix.


	3. Training & Explanations

A/N: Again this takes place pre-season 4.

* * *

Chapter 3: **Training & ****Explanations**

* * *

Saturday:

Cisco and Wally were waiting for Marianne, who was running a bit late. Okay, twenty minutes late, since she was supposed to show up for her first day of hero training. Marianne walked in holding a cardboard tray with three to-go cups on it, and she had a black shoulder bag with a white flap and on the flap was a encircled black A on it that looked like it was supposed to be spray-painted on, on one shoulder. She set the tray and shoulder bag down on the nearest table. She had her hair in two little braids and wore the studded wristband.

"You're late," Wally said.

Marianne shrugged, "I accidentally overslept. I had homework to finish and my dad's ex-girlfriend showed up, wearing a camera and nothing else and waving a vodka bottle around at two in the morning, violating her restraining order. She was threatening to break down the door, but we couldn't allow that because our home is a rented place and our landlady is a bitch. We hid in the bathroom and had to call the cops on _that _mess of a woman. Around midnight, Jake had called me because he wouldn't calm down because he was terrified that _his_ mess of a 'mother' escaped Iron Heights. I wouldn't really call her a mother since she was horrible but I'm not getting into _that_ story. Then around eight in the morning Asher and Jake picked me up to go to Jitters."

Cisco was confused, "Restraining order?"

"Yeah," Marianne said, "Don't ask. That's between me, my dad, and that woman."

"What did Jake's mother do to get put in Iron Heights?" Wally asked although he had an idea on what happened.

"That's between him and his mother," Marianne said. "And I got all of us hot chocolate because I don't know if any of you like coffee or how you take it, if you both do. I haven't developed a taste for coffee, so I got hot chocolate for myself, as well. I haven't drank from any cup." She cringed, "Sorry. I ramble when I'm in trouble and I tend to over-explain things."

"It's okay," Wally said.

"Yeah, just put this sweater on," Cisco said throwing a sweater to Marianne. She fumbled it when she tried to catch it, but it landed on the ground.

"We need to work on your catching," Wally said as Marianne picked up the sweater.

Marianne held it up and looked at it, "S.T.A.R Labs?" She frowned and pulled the sweater on to cover the tank-top she was wearing.

Wally looked at Marianne. "You know, since you see the future how come you don't know that your dad's ex-girlfriend is going to show up or that Jake was going to call you? Or finish her homework already knowing what the answers are?"

"That's because it doesn't work like that," Marianne said running her thumb over a stud on her wristband. "Like I said, I make predictions more than see the future. I can get the winning numbers to the Mega-Millions, but I don't know if it's the actual jackpot or the one where you get half of that. I can predict the state where the jackpot is in, but not the actual person who's going to win. I can predict answers on a test, but it's probably not the test that we're taking that day, or if it's a test that we're going to take some weeks in the future. I can predict who's going to win at poker, but I don't know if that's round or the next round."

"I see that the future doesn't want you to cheat on anything at all," Wally said.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah, it's the price of seeing the future."

"Can you predict when Jake's mother is getting out of Iron Heights?" Cisco asked.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah, I can. If I concentrate really hard on it, but Jake forbade me for having that information. He doesn't want me to have anything to do with his, in his words, 'birth-giver'. That includes having that release date. So, I'll follow his wishes."

"Do you normally follow his wishes?" Wally asked confused.

"Yeah," Marianne said shrugging. "Anyway you wanted me to train?"

"You said that Caitlin was in a bar," Cisco said.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah. I don't know which bar though or where it's at, but I can predict the area she's in."

"That mean you guess when Barry's getting back," Wally said.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah—"

"There's a but," Cisco said.

"Someone's coming," Marianne said. "Someone named Joe."

"That's my dad," Wally said.

As if on cue, Joe walked in and went straight to them. "Hey…" He noticed Marianne, "Who's this?"

Marianne held out her hand to Joe. "I'm Marianne Strife."

Joe shook her hand, "Detective—"

"Joseph West," Marianne finished. "I think I know you. You worked on one of my dad's cases."

Joe looked at her, "Yeah, I think so. Richard—"

"Sinclair," Marianne finished. "He goes by Rikki. R-I-K-K-I."

"I think I remember him," Joe said. "Something about his girlfriend having a sugar imbalance and therefore explains why she punches him. Repeatedly."

"Yeah," Marianne said cringing. "The same woman who showed up at home early this morning."

Joe looked at Marianne, "You're a meta-human?"

Marianne held up her hand, palm up and a fireball ignited on her palm, "Yeah."

Joe looked at Marianne, who extinguished the flame, "Yeah, of course you are."

Marianne was confused, "What does that mean?"

"It explains why you're wearing the sweater," Joe said.

Marianne looked down at it, "That's a thing?"

Joe nodded, "Yeah."

"We were supposed to train her," Cisco said.

Joe looked at Cisco, "You can. I have to talk to Wally."

Cisco started leading Marianne to the Speed Lab, grabbing a to-go cup. Marianne grabbed a to-go cup and her shoulder bag before following after Cisco.

* * *

"So, you're going to catch those boards on fire," Cisco said. He pointed to five boards that were in a row and was halfway across the Speed Lab.

"What if it gets out of control?" asked Marianne, looking at the boards.

"We have a fire extinguisher," Cisco said. "I don't think that losing control of the fire is going to be a problem since you've had your powers for about four years."

"I caught my curtains on fire because of my powers," Marianne said.

Cisco blinked, "Really?"

"I was catching paper on fire and I guess I didn't put it out and the next thing I knew—" Marianne started and snapped, creating a spark, "—The bottom part of my curtains caught on fire." As if on cue one of the boards caught on fire.

"You had a lot of practice," Cisco said.

Marianne looked at him, "Well, I don't want to burn down any buildings by just one sneeze." She pretended to sneeze and the second board caught on fire.

Cisco looked at her, "Well, that's good."

"I also didn't want to harm Asher, Jake, or my dad," Marianne said.

"What happened to your mother?" Cisco asked. He knew that Marianne was adopted, but he didn't want her to know that he had spent a week looking through her Facebook. Who knew what she would do if she knew that.

"I'm adopted. Given up at birth," Marianne said looking at her fingernails, which were planted black. "Adopted by my dad."

"You can figure out who your mom is, right?" Cisco asked.

"I already know who she is," Marianne said. "Her name is Kelly Knight. I don't know where to find her. I can't even predict where she lives."

Cisco winced, "What about your dad?"

"His name is Jordan Castillo," Marianne said shrugging. "I can't predict where he lives either."

"Sorry about that," Cisco said.

Marianne looked up at him, "If I ever meet them, I hope they're not as bad as Jake's mother." She suddenly looked angry, "Stupid system. They knew that she wasn't a good person, but no, they thought that he needed to be with his mother. Look what happened to him. If I was there, oh, that woman would've been ash by the time help arrived." She created a fireball and turned to the third board, and sent a stream of fire at it. She held the stream, and released it once there was a pile of ash.

Cisco cringed at that, "Is that so?"

"I don't know how someone that horrible can produce someone as sweet as Jake," Marianne said. She sounded a little fond at the mention of Jake.

"Oh, really?" Cisco said. "Was she abusive?"

Marianne looked back at Cisco and forced a laugh. "Try growing up hearing your mother tell you she hates you, every single day. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject. But, she's the reason why he drinks. Besides the fact that his dad refuses to take him to therapy, but his dad does love having a drinking 'buddy.'" She used air quotes, which made the fourth board burst into flames. "Jake is cutting back. He drinks on Saturdays now, but he's trying to stop."

"Only on Saturdays?" Cisco asked.

"He once showed up to school wasted," Marianne said. "He said that playing basketball drunk was fun."

"That's…" Cisco started and trailed off. "You still have one more board to burn."

Marianne threw a fireball at it, hitting it in the middle, before the fire ate it up as well.

Cisco nodded, "So, if Jake is the alcoholic, what's Asher like?"

"Asher is Asher," Marianne said. "He's the more argumentative one in the relationship. He's stubborn, but if you're arguing with him, it may seem like he doesn't care, although it takes a little bit of time to get him to show that, yes, he does give a damn. He's just stubborn and hates admitting he's wrong, but he'll admit and apologize for it."

"I feel like there's a story there," Cisco said.

"He and Jake got into an argument one night, like one in the morning. Jake decided that he's walking home, since he lives like three miles from Asher's place. He walked out that door and then guilt slapped Asher in the face about ten minutes later, that, and I felt like something was wrong, so we went to pick him up. There was some guy waving a knife at him and let's say that guy went down quickly, the police showed up, Asher apologized repeatedly, and we went back to Asher's place where they kissed and made up."

Cisco nodded, "Uh-huh. And what were they arguing about that made him storm out like that?"

Marianne shrugged, "Something about how Asher doesn't care about anyone but himself and some other stuff that's between the three of us."

"You really don't like talking about everyone's business," Cisco said.

Marianne blinked, "That's trust and I don't want to betray it." A alarm went off and Marianne was confused, "What is that?"

"That's because a meta-human is on the loose," Cisco explained.

"Ooh, can I tag along with Wally?" asked Marianne.

"I think you're rushing a little," Cisco stated.

Marianne looked in Cisco's eyes, as if she was trying to hypnotize him. "How am I going to get experience when I can't do anything?"

"Fine," Cisco said, "Hold on." He ran off and returned with a domino mask, "Put that on. Take off that sweater and ignore how creepy that sounded coming from an adult."

Marianne took the mask and pulled the sweater off and—

"Whoa!" replied Cisco looking away as fast as he can. "I don't need know to what color bra you're wearing! You could've at least turned around. I don't want your boyfriend to punch me in the face or something for that."

"Asher finds jealousy boring," Marianne said pulling down her tank-top. "Besides, that's probably the most action you've gotten in years."

"I rather not have gotten that from a teenager!" Cisco shouted, "I didn't need that type of horror in my life!"

Marianne was going to reply, but Iris appeared, "Hey, you guys. There's a meta-human and Wally wants to take, uh, Phoenix out for a trial run."

Marianne grinned.


	4. The Hunt Is On!

A/N: This chapter is a little short because I really suck at writing, so I apologize deeply for that.

The face-claim to Laura/Thalassa is Maia Mitchell.

* * *

Chapter 4: **The Hunt Is On!**

* * *

Cisco led Marianne to the Cortex, where Iris was looking at the monitors and told them where the meta-human was. Marianne looked at a screen and frowned, "That's Laura Delaney."

"Who?" Iris asked.

"Laura Delaney," Marianne explained, "she dated Jake last year. She got way to…shall I say, possessive over him."

"Possessive?" Wally asked.

"She's the type of ex that says you'll regret moving on despite being replaced," replied Marianne.

Wally and Cisco grimaced at that.

"Okay, she's a meta-human," Iris said.

Laura, a brunette girl maybe around eighteen, sent water from a fire hydrant right into a parked car before moving the water right into a building.

With one blink Wally and Marianne were on the street, Marianne stumbled into the nearest wall, breathing heavily. Laura turned to look at them, "Oh, look, it's Kid Flash and…"

"Phoenix," Marianne said.

Laura gave her a strange look. "Whatever you say, Babycakes." She waved her arm and the water from the hydrant engulfed and then she vanished, leaving a wet spot on the cement.

"Ugh, Asher and I really hated that 'term of endearment'," Marianne said using air quotes.

"Where did she go?" asked Wally.

"She's heading to Ravenfall Neighborhood," Iris said.

"That's where Asher lives," Marianne said horrified.

Wally grabbed Marianne's arm and there was a blur and they were standing in the middle of a street. Marianne stumbled off onto the sidewalk and grabbed the nearest mailbox for support.

"Why would she go after Asher?" Cisco asked.

"It's not my place to tell," Marianne replied in between deep breaths.

"Where is his house?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah, we need to get to him and his family before she does," Iris asked.

Marianne rattled off the address and then she was sped off into the middle of another street. Marianne looked around and then pointed to a house. "He lives there."

They got barely a few steps to the sidewalk when a nearby fire hydrant burst and a blast of spray sent Wally flying down the street and right into a car, setting off the car alarm.

"Wally!" Iris shouted, sounding panicked.

Marianne turned around and spotted Laura, who was across the street. She was smirking and Marianne sent a blast of fire at Laura. Laura waved her hand up and a wall of water sprang up and engulfed the fire.

"Water extinguishes fire. Didn't you know that?" Laura taunted.

Marianne always hated that smug bitch, so she threw another fireball at Laura, who used the water shield so Marianne went low, but of course Laura blocked that too.

"You really suck at this, don't you?" Laura taunted.

Marianne was irritated and started throwing fireballs one after another, trying to get Laura to step back, but of course, Laura was blocking each fireball with a wave of water.

Wally ran towards Laura, tackling her from behind, but Laura disappeared in a wave of water and appeared down the street.

"I really hate that girl," Cisco said.

"Join the club," Marianne replied.

A stream of water grabbed Marianne around the waist and she was thrown down the street. She laid there for a few seconds, before saying, "Ow."

"Where is she now?" Wally asked Iris and sped over to check on Marianne. "Are you okay?"

"Super," Marianne said giving a thumbs up. She had scratches on her arms. "I'm sorry I suck at this."

"It's fine, you just need to find your footing," Wally said helping Marianne up.

"She's heading to Juniperwood neighborhood," Iris said. "Let me guess, Jake lives there?"

"Yes," Marianne said. Wally picked up Marianne bridal style and then they were off.

They stopped in the middle of a neighborhood and Wally dropped Marianne who ended up throwing up this time. Wally grimaced and Marianne rattled off Jake's address. Wally grabbed Marianne's arm and they were off.

They stopped in the middle of the street, attracting the attention of a man watering his lawn. Asher and Jake were sitting next to the each other on the bed of the pickup truck.

Asher had his arm around Jake's shoulder and was whispering something to Jake. Jake was holding a bottle of Captain Morgan White Rum in one hand and held Asher's other hand. They both turned to look at the two meta-humans and seemed momentarily confused. There was a wave of water, knocking both Marianne and Wally to the ground.

"I really hate that girl," Wally said groaning as he sat up.

"Join the club," Cisco and Marianne both said at the same time.

Laura laughed and turned to the two boys in the pickup truck. "Well, well. Looks like I finally find you two." She turned to Jake and smiled, "Especially you Jake."

Jake looked a little pale at that, or maybe it was the alcohol kicking in, Marianne didn't know, but she was angry. She and Wally got up.

"I'm not so happy to see you, Asher," Laura said, turning to Asher, "Which is why you have to drown."

Marianne threw a fireball right at Laura's back. Laura turned and glared at Marianne. "You little slu—"

Marianne threw another fireball at Laura, hitting her in the chest. Laura stumbled back but threw a wave of water right at Marianne, who threw a stream of fire at the moment, meeting the water in the middle.

"Wally, get Asher and Jake out of there," Iris said.

There was a pause and Wally said, "It looks like they took off when Phoenix threw the fireball at—"

"Thalassa," Cisco said.

"Thalassa?" asked Wally sounding confused.

The water made Marianne stumble backwards and she urged the fire to go further. She was angry at the threat of Asher's life being taken over something stupid as Jake being bisexual.

"It means sea in Greek," Cisco said.

"Phoenix, do you know what happens when water gets boiled?" Iris asked.

"It evaporates," Marianne said, though it sounded like she spoke more to herself.

"You just need to turn up the heat," Iris instructed.

"Okay," Marianne said.

Anger was the key in Marianne's mind. She was angry over Jake's mother and angry over Laura wanting to kill Asher. She tried to imagine the fire getting hotter and tried to imagine evaporating the water that Laura was trying to send at her.

She wasn't sure what happened because the next thing she knew, Laura was blasted backwards right into the pickup truck that Asher and Jake had vacated. The flame followed after, burning the truck as well. Laura had gone through the window and right into the cab of the truck.

Wally and Marianne ran over to check on her.

Asher led Jake out of Jake's house, holding Jake's hand. Jake was still looking a little pale and still holding his rum.

"Sorry about your pickup truck," Wally said.

"It's my dad's," Jake said.

"Uh, is she dead?" Asher asked pointing to the truck. Marianne went over to look. It looked like Laura was breathing.

"No, I think she's unconscious." Marianne said turning around to see that Asher had his arm around Jake's shoulders this time.

"Oh, good, that will help be less hard to explain to my dad," Jake said. "If he doesn't get pissed at me."

"Well, I'm just going to get Thalassa here and…" Wally started before trailing off. He seemed a bit confused about something before he pulled Laura's body out of the pickup truck and running off.

Marianne did a hand motion, "Well, I'll just wait here then." She looked at the two boys and then at Jake's rum. "Is that good?"

Jake held it out, "What to try some?"

Marianne considered the offer, but shook her head, "I really shouldn't."

Jake shrugged and looked at Asher, "What about you?"

Marianne looked around for Wally while Asher took the rum and took a swig, then he grimaced.

Jake laughed and took the bottle back, "You're not made for Captain Morgan." He laughed and Asher rolled his eyes, before leaning over and kissed Jake.

Suddenly Marianne was back in S.T.A.R. labs. She was placed in a office chair, which resulted her in spinning in a circle. She stopped the chair and doubled over, breathing heavily. A trashcan was placed in her lap. She removed the domino mask and rubbed her eyes. She looked up and noticed how Wally was looking sort of concerned.

"Are you okay?" asked Wally.

Marianne grinned, "I kicked Laura's ass, so I'm fine."

"No, I mean your boyfriend kissed his friend," Wally said. Marianne stared blankly at him. "His _guy_ friend. Kissed his _guy_ friend on the lips."

Marianne continued to stare blankly at him. "Not really."

"You saw that, right?" Wally said.

"Yeah," Marianne said.

"So, he cheated on you. Right in front of you." Wally said sounding a little distressed over Marianne's lack of a reaction.

Marianne looked unblinkingly at Wally, "Not really."

Wally looked like he was going to say something, but Cisco said, "If she wants to be in denial, then fine."

"I'm not in denial," Marianne said. "It's very complicated."

"How so?" asked Cisco.

"I think my boyfriends will be confused if I break up with Asher for daring to kiss _his_ boyfriend," Marianne said.

"Wait, so you mean that…" Wally started.

"You're dating two boys who are dating each other?" Cisco finished.

Marianne nodded. "Yeah. Laura hates Asher, because she thinks that he made Jake leave her for him. Asher and I don't know the whole story, since I think the both of them are lying. But just like the reason why Deuce left Hollywood Undead, we don't know the whole story."

"Who?" asked Wally sounding confused.

"Never mind," replied Marianne.

Cisco pointed to the wristband Marianne wore, "The studded wristbands—"

"Is our couple's thing," Marianne finished. "Well, Asher and I started dating before we included Jake. A month after Asher and I started dating, Asher had the idea. After we included Jake, we gave him a wristband, too."

"How did your relationship with Jake come along?" Cisco asked.

"Jake showed up to Asher's house, drunk, and crying, apologizing for falling in love with him and me, before leaving. So, Asher called me about it and after a bit of discussion, we decided to include him, just to see how it felt. So, after a month, Asher and I gave him a studded wristband. It was the happiest day of my life," Marianne explained.

And it made a lot sense, Cisco realized. The pictures with Marianne always being in between the two boys, the picture of Asher kissing Jake on the cheek, the wristbands. "Oh."

"Yeah, we're just not that public with our relationship, because, for some reason, people really don't like it," Marianne said. She looked at the two men, "Do you have a problem with that?"

Cisco and Wally shook their heads.


	5. This Is Just The Intermission

A/N: I figured that maybe I should insert a chapter with a bit of father-daughter bonding time between Marianne and Rikki.

I got the chapter title from a line in Sixx:A.M.'s _Intermission_, which is "but more on that later, after all, this is just the intermission."

The face-claim to Richard 'Rikki' Sinclair is Sebastian Stan.

* * *

Chapter 5: **This Is Just The Intermission**

* * *

That afternoon, Marianne told her dad about the fight with Laura at Big Belly Burger in the booth over at Central City Shopping Mall.

"—so, she was thrown backwards into Trent's pickup truck," Marianne finished saying. Trent was Jake's dad.

"Explains what happened to his truck," Rikki said. He worked as a mechanic. He had the same job as long as Marianne can remember. "Was Jake drunk while that happened?"

"He was getting there." Marianne said, "He wasn't slurring."

"Unless you're used to hearing him slur," Rikki replied.

"You got a point on that," Marianne said. "He was coherent enough to know that he had to explain how Trent's pickup got damaged."

"You got a point on that," Rikki said. "However, that boy was probably drinking since he was four."

"Wrong," Marianne said. "Jessica would never allow Jake to eat or drink anything."

"True," Rikki said. "That woman was horrible."

Marianne nodded and frowned. "We're going to have Pie Night, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Rikki said.

"You want me to get a banana cream pie?" Marianne asked. "Wait, why am I asking? I _know_ what you want." She looked at the napkin dispenser. "Do you want me to try and kill you with that napkin dispenser because one of your exes showed up?"

Rikki nodded, "And like a real man, I hid in the restroom."

"Ah," Marianne replied. "Like real men, Jake and Asher hid in Jake's house. Or the bathroom, I don't know."

"I rather not have them end up in the hospital, so I don't have to hear you complain about it," Rikki said.

Marianne threw a fry at him, but it went over his shoulder. "I don't complain when they get hurt."

Rikki countered, "Yes, you do, Riri. Remember when Jake's mother stabbed him repeatedly? You complained about it for three months."

"That woman is _not_ his mother!" Marianne shouted. She noticed how a napkin in the napkin dispenser started to smolder.

Rikki grabbed the napkin and dipped it in the water that his soda cup left behind. He looked at Marianne, who looked off to the side. "Keep it down or I'll make you watch _Thomas & Friends_ when we get home."

Marianne's eyes widened in horror, "No."

Rikki nodded, "It's true. I will."

Marianne looked at her dad, "Not that, I mean, well, yes, I don't want to watch that, but I meant 'no' because Adeline just walked in."

Rikki looked horrified and they gathered their trash and hurried over to the trash can to throw their trash away.

Adeline was one of Rikki's ex-girlfriends, who got extremely clingy every time Rikki looked at another woman, or stared too 'intently' at Victoria's Secret commercials. Adeline had texted Rikki all night and hated all of Rikki's female friends. Adeline also called Marianne a tramp for being in a polyamorous relationship. Adeline also had to come in first, despite the fact that Rikki said that Marianne had to come first, since Marianne was his daughter.

Marianne didn't know why her father dated women like that or how he attracted them or where he even found these women. Rikki hurried away, when:

"Hey, Anne!"

Marianne rolled her eyes at the nickname. She didn't like her name being shortened down, but she tolerated it when her boyfriends or dad called her nicknames. However, she drew the line at getting nicknamed by a woman who insulted her after finding out she was in a polyamorous relationship.

She forced a smile and turned to Adeline. She spoke through gritted teeth, "hello."

"Hey, where's Rikki?" Adeline asked.

_Oh, _that _question, _Marianne thought. She thought about it, "Oh, he went to Mooselookmeguntic." She paused and thought about it, "And then died there."

_That's a good one,_ Marianne thought.

"Oh, then where are you living?" Adeline asked.

Marianne dropped her voice to a whisper, "No one knows. I'm trying to keep it a secret. I live with my boyfriend."

"Oh, which one?" Adeline asked.

"Yes," Marianne said and turned, walking away. She hurried up to her dad and tried to put her arm around his shoulders, but since he was four inches taller than her 5'6 stature, so she had a little trouble. "So, after we got Laura taken care of, Kid Flash and Vibe tried to train me a bit more. I had Hollywood Undead on shuffle and had their songs blaring, so after _Nobody's Watching_ finishes, the opening line to _Kill Everyone_ comes on, confusing the hell out of them, because of the mood swing."

Rikki laughed and then quieted down, "What did you tell her?"

"I told her that you moved to Mooselookmeguntic and then died there. I didn't tell anyone and I'm currently living with one of my boyfriends," Marianne said.

"Which one did you tell her?" Rikki asked.

"I said yes, and then left," Marianne said.

Rikki laughed again at that, "You're such a troublemaker." He ruffled Marianne's hair and tugged at a braid.

Marianne playfully slapped at Rikki's hand, "Stop it."

They got to the front of the mall, when Rikki spotted the fountain. He turned to Marianne, "hey, I would buy you whatever you want from your favorite store if you stand on that fountain and sing _Barbarians (Prayers For The Blessed)_ by Sixx:A.M.."

Marianne smiled at that, "I'll do it for nothing."

She ran over to the fountain and climbed on the marble top. She started to sing, "_I am sick of being told how to feel by the old, the decrepit, and the greedy rich._" She was pacing and pointing as she sang. "_I am sick of being lied to, tied to a chain gang, rats on a sinking ship._" She continued walking as she sang. She even noticed she was attracting some attention for it. She even spotted her dad, laughing his ass off at that, before a store operator ran over to talk to him.

She continued singing, "_It's more than a warning shot. We're all barbarians, everybody say amen. Say a prayer as they're dying in our hands._"

A police officer ran over to her and said, "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to get down."

Marianne shrugged, "Okay."

"She is not my kid!" Rikki shouted.

Marianne rolled her eyes and continued walking out of the mall. Her dad will catch up after dealing with the store operator.

* * *

A/N: Also, Mooselookmeguntic is a place in a Maine. I looked up random place names and I picked that because it sounds like it would be fun to say.

As a side-note: Barry returns in the next chapter.


	6. The Flash Reborn - Part 1

A/N: I deeply apologize for the hiatus.

The face-claim to Asher's dad, Adam, is Bradley James.

The face-claim to Jake's dad, Matthew, is Colin Morgan.

Now this takes place during Season 4. Say, fast forward about two months.

* * *

Chapter 6: **The Flash Reborn - Part 1**

* * *

_Tomorrow is the day that the Flash returns, _Marianne thought as soon as she woke up. She was crammed in between Jake and Asher on Asher's bed. Asher and Jake had their arms around her waist, although Jake had a hold of the back of Asher's shirt. Jake had an empty rum bottle in the other hand.

They had fallen asleep after Asher had finished giving them a magic show, although Marianne was sure that Jake was somewhat busy getting wasted and only watched half of it, before falling asleep.

She sat up and crawled over Jake. The two boys shifted and moved closer together. Jake threw one arm around Asher's waist and pulled him closer.

Marianne resisted the urge to take a picture of her two boyfriends since she already had plenty of pictures of them snuggling. Besides, she had things to do, so she grabbed her combat boots and messenger bag before leaving Asher's room. She went to the bathroom, did her business, and even brushed her teeth with a spare toothbrush that Asher had left for her. After that, she went into the kitchen, where Asher's dad, Adam, was finishing up eating fried eggs and toast.

"Morning," Adam greeted.

Marianne nodded at him and sat in a chair to put her combat boots on, "Morning."

"How did you sleep?" Adam asked, sounding like he was teasing her.

"I think Asher drooled on me a little," Marianne said, "And I think Jake spilt a little bit of rum on my shirt, though, but I don't care."

"That guy needs AA," Adam muttered.

"He's cutting back," Marianne countered.

Adam looked like he was going to say something but stopped. "At least he brought three bottles of rum with him this time."

Once Jake had brought seven bottles and promptly passed out five bottles in and that was one hour after he got there.

"True," Marianne said. "And he didn't chug them down in thirty minutes either. So that's a good sign, I think."

"Yeah," Adam said. He looked at Marianne, "Do you want me to make you something?"

Marianne shook her head, "No, I'm good. I need you to drop me off at S.T.A.R Labs though."

Adam nodded, "Okay." He put his plate and cup in the sink and grabbed his car keys from the cupboard. "All right, let's go."

Marianne arched an eyebrow at him, "You're forgetting to put on shoes."

Adam looked down at his socked feet and then shrugged, "I can still drive."

Marianne squinted at him and then smiled, "Okay." She frowned, "Although I think we need to take the long way since there's going to be some sort of bus accident on Main Street." She frowned, "or would that be tomorrow?" She looked at Adam, "We should still take the long way. I don't want to take any chances."

Adam nodded, "okay."

* * *

They got to S.T.A.R. Labs right when Cisco showed up. He seemed surprised to see a different car pull up, but looked confused when Marianne emerged from the car.

There were a few times when Cisco and Asher had pulled up to the lab at the same time, and Cisco had the uncomfortable moment of watching Marianne kiss her boyfriends goodbye.

Marianne waved bye to Adam and walked up to Cisco.

Cisco still looked confused, "Who was—"

"He's Asher's dad," Marianne said. She waved bye as Adam drove off.

"Who else knows?" Cisco demanded.

"My dad, Jake's dad, and Asher's dad," Marianne said shrugging. "Don't worry, they can keep a secret. And it doesn't feel right keeping my boyfriends in the dark, so I had to tell them. Our relationship has to be built on trust and communication, you know. It will crumble if I didn't _do_ that. And I don't want them to think I'm cheating on them." She played with the studded wristband. "I love them too much for that."

Cisco nodded in agreement, even though he didn't really know much about how polyamorous relationships worked.

They made their way in the lab and walked down the hallway.

"I finally finished making your suit. I'm not sure how well it will fit you," Cisco said.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Marianne said grinning. "I'm already excited. It's on my top-ten list of things I'm happy about."

"Let me guess," Cisco started, "Getting in a relationship with your two boyfriends is first?"

Marianne thought about it, "I think seeing Hollywood Undead and Sixx:A.M. live on Youtube are second and third. I know that Jake finally learning how to hit that guitar solo on Prayers For the Damned is the first. I even recorded him." She took out her phone.

"I don't want to see it," Cisco said.

Either he spoke a foreign language or Marianne ignored him because she took out her phone and had pulled the video up. It showed Jake holding and playing a guitar.

Cisco had to admit that Jake was pretty good at the guitar. And then Asher just leaned over and perceded to grab Jake's thigh from behind and up front twice. Cisco wished he could unsee that.

"Yeah, they do that," Marianne said turning the video off.

Cisco blinked, "Okay. Let's go."

They continued on their way.

"Tomorrow is the day that the Flash returns," Marianne said after a moment of silence.

Cisco whirled around on her, "What?"

"Barry returns tomorrow," Marianne repeated. "The thought just popped into my head when I woke up." She looked at Cisco, "What do you have planned?"

Cisco shook his head, "Nothing."

"Uh-huh," Marianne said not believing him. "I know that you're involved in Barry's return"

"How do you know?" Cisco asked.

Marianne pointed at herself, "Clairvoyant over here."

Cisco rolled his eyes at that, "Whatever." He led her to the suits.

He pointed at one that was fiery red with blue running up the arms. In the chest was the lightning bolt insignia, but it was bright orange instead of yellow or red. There was an orange domino mask to go along with it. "I'm not sure—"

"I love it!" Marianne said feeling giddy. "I'm going to try it on." She peeled the suit off of the mannequin and pulled it over her clothes. As soon as she put the mask on, the alarm went off. "Yeah, that figures."

* * *

An hour later, Wally ran into the middle of a street and stopped, looking around. "I can't find her anywhere, Cisco."

A breach opened up in the middle of the street and out came Cisco, dressed up in his Vibe gear. He placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "I need to work out more."

A ring of fire appeared a little way down the street, and Marianne hopped out, "—ring of fire." She finished singing.

"Do you have to sing that every time you teleport?" asked Cisco.

Marianne started, "I can sing—"

The police car drove by and Marianne looked after it as she and Cisco walked up to Wally.

"You know, she really stepped up her game," Cisco said.

"Then let's turn up ours," Joe said. "I don't have eyes on her. Iris?"

"I was saying that I can always sing Child of Burning Time by Slipknot," Marianne said as Iris spoke over the comm.

"Guys, duck!" Iris ordered before Wally can something.

Marianne was confused and turned around. "What duck?"

"I don't see no duck," Wally added turning around. He was suddenly punched in the face, followed by Cisco getting punched as well. However, Marianne was given a hard shove that knocked her onto her back. She looked up to see a woman standing there, hitching a bag over her shoulder.

"Peek-A-Boo," the woman said. "Stay back. That's your only warning." She teleported away.

"Oh," said Marianne, realization dawning on her. "_That's_ what Iris meant."

"I can't believe you two thought that she meant an actual duck," Cisco said.

Marianne waved her hand in a half circular motion, creating a ring of fire in midair, got up, and jumped through it, singing, "I fell into—"

"I got her this time," Wally said, running off.

"I really hate teleporters," Cisco muttered.

"I heard that," Marianne said in a sing-song voice.

"You were meant too," Cisco said in a sing-song voice.

Meanwhile, Marianne was busy teleporting over the city, singing Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash under her breath, as she tried to capture Peek-A-Boo on top of a rooftop, but the woman evaded her capture and vanished.

A bolt of yellow lightning streaked past Marianne and she blinked in surprise at that, before creating another ring of fire, to catch up to Peek-A-Boo.

She was in the middle of a street, and almost got hit by a car, the driver honking at her. She shook her fist at the car, before teleporting away again onto a rooftop. She stumbled as she hopped out and grabbed the edge. She was feeling feverish.

"Marianne, be careful when you teleport," Iris said. "Your heat levels are rising quickly. You're going to burn out soon."

"Noted," Marianne said.

It was a few months ago that they noticed that apparently her fire manipulation has a limit on how long she can use them. It was more of a nuisance to have, but she figured that it was due to her clairvoyance having limits on what she can and can't see. It was just her luck.

Cisco appeared on the rooftop and Marianne spotted yellow lightning a few buildings down.

Peek-A-Boo appeared and Cisco hit her with a blast of blue energy and opened a breach behind him.

"One…two…" Marianne started counting and Wally appeared, Cisco unfroze Peek-A-Boo and Wally tackled the woman right into the breach. Cisco and Marianne jumped through the breach and they materialized onto the ground in an alley.

They rolled on the ground.

"Move your foot," Cisco groaned, smacking at Marianne's leg.

"Bang bang," Peek-A-Boo said pointing a gun each at the two men.

"Bang?" finished Marianne, getting looks from the three adults.

That was all that was needed, because Peek-A-Boo stiffened up and keeled over. Joe and a bunch of police cars were stationed behind Peek-A-Boo.

"Great job, you three. You finally caught her," Joe said. He was holding a large canon-like type of gun.

"Don't think that I didn't hear you say 'finally,'" Marianne accused.

"Yeah, if you hadn't noticed, teleporters can be a pain in the ass," Cisco said. He looked at Marianne.

"So glad you're speaking of yourself," Marianne said.

"Like Phoenix for example. She's a pain in my ass," Cisco said.

Marianne rolled her eyes.

* * *

"I'm so proud of us," Cisco said as the elevator door opened, revealing Iris standing there waiting for them. The group started following Iris to the cortex. "That was a good hustle out there, Team Vibe."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's Team Kid Flash," replied Marianne.

"I was going to say that," said Wally looking excited. "Did you see the future on that?"

"It's actually Team Kid Flash because—" Marianne started but stopped talking. They didn't need that reminder.

"You know, that wasn't your _best _work out there, you three," Iris said in a cold tone.

Apparently that was too much of a reminder.

"What are you looking at me for?" Joe asked, confused. "I was the one who put her down."

"And it's not my fault that my powers seem to enjoy trying to burn me up," Marianne said.

"Anyway, I helped," Cisco said. "And it went exactly according to plan."

"And it proved that you're really out of shape," Marianne said. "You should start going to the gym with my dad and Carolynn."

"Who's Carolynn?" Cisco asked.

"His…" Marianne cringed, "_girlfriend_."

"Is she bad?" asked Cisco.

"She's obnoxious," Marianne said. "But so far, she's been nice to my dad."

When they got to the Cortex, Iris said, "Anyway, we're not catching bad guys at our old rate, since every other person that we managed to capture have escaped."

"I still can't believe Laura is out there," Marianne muttered. "I wonder why she hasn't attacked Jake or Asher, yet."

"We're still keeping an eye on their homes," Iris said. "Sort of."

"I know that they can take care of themselves, but…" Marianne started.

"We get it," said Joe.

Once, Marianne had brought her boyfriends over to the lab, to show them around, and he had walked in on Jake and Asher making out, greatly confusing him, because he didn't exactly know the exact nature of their relationship. He had seen Marianne kiss Jake, so he had assumed they were dating, but then he walked in on the two boys, and Marianne just casually strolled up to Joe, as if she doesn't see the two boys, who were obviously sitting right there. Joe needed a drink after the three explained what their relationship was like.

"Moving on, Iris has a point," Cisco said.

"Yeah, but she has to give props to us. And Team Kid Flash is on the case," Wally said.

"Son, I love you, but nobody's feeling Team Kid Flash," Joe said.

"I am," Marianne said, raising her hand.

Wally smiled in appreciation, "Thank you, Marianne."

"But it's too many syllables," Cisco cut in. He held up two fingers.

"You can get used to it," Marianne said.

"You guys need to start taking this seriously," Iris admonished. "I know that you three did a good job on catching Peek-A-Boo, but I don't need to be psychic," she gave Marianne a look, "to know that she won't be the other to come around. We're the ones that are here to protect this city, since there's no one else to do it."

Marianne nodded and looked down, feeling slightly guilty. She knew two others that have powers.

"You got something to mention to the team?" snapped Iris.

"No," said Marianne, quickly. "Jake was thinking of getting a tattoo, but I don't see him with one."

Iris seemed to be taken aback by that, but she turned to Wally. "I programmed a new training simulation for you in the Speed Lab."

Wally opened his mouth to protest, but Iris turned to Marianne, "And I had programmed a simulation for you there as well, to help with your burn out. It should take about four hours."

"W-whoa, whoa," Marianne said, holding out her hands. "Four hours? Jake, Asher, and I planned on having Movie Night over at Jake's place starting in about—" Iris gave her a withering look, so Mariane said, "I can call them and postpone the movie for a few hours."

She turned and went to the Speed Lab. She kind of wished that Barry would've returned today, because Iris was more crankier than usual. Although she wasn't sure how she would feel if the man did return. Would he kick her off of the team because he wasn't there to have her join the team? She wasn't sure.

* * *

Later that evening, the three teens were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Marianne was in the middle, and she had her head on Asher's chest and his wrap around her waist. Jake was sitting a little farther down the couch than Marianne wanted. He was drinking some type of alcohol that Marianne couldn't see.

Asher looked over at Jake and frowned. "Hey, Sweetness, what are _you_ drinking? That doesn't look like your rum."

Jake looked at the bottle. "It's Angry Orchard Cider. It's Crisp Apple."

"Oh," Marianne and Asher said together.

"What movie are we watching again?" Marianne asked.

"It's some superhero movie that takes place during World War 2," Jake said.

Marianne frowned, "Oh."

Jake looked at the TV.

Asher seemed to have noticed something and looked over at Jake. "Hey, what are you doing all the way over there? Bring your ass over here."

Marianne held her arm out towards him and felt Jake nestle himself into her side. Jake rested his head on her shoulder and Marianne put her arm around his shoulders.

"What's biting you?" Marianne asked.

"Besides me?" Asher asked, smiling.

Marianne rolled her eyes, "Besides Asher?"

"It's…the 'darkness' getting to me again," Jake admitted.

The 'darkness' was what Jake called the doubtful thoughts or the self-hatred he experiences.

"I had a nightmare once," Asher said. "It was some dumb bitch calling you, her's." He removed his arm from around Marianne and put his arm around Jake's shoulders. He pulled the other boy closer. "You're ours, you hear?"

"I know," Jake said.

"We love you," Marianne said.

The door opened and Jake's dad, Matt, walked in. He walked by the TV, but he stopped and looked at the three on the couch. He tilted his head. He had black hair and blue eyes. He had some rather unfortunate large ears.

"You should be glad that you inherited your birth giver's ears," Matt said and walked into the kitchen.

Jake grabbed his ear. "I think that's the only good thing that she gave me."

"Don't think about that _woman_," Asher said sounding disgusted. "She's out of your life for good."

"Until she gets out of jail," Jake muttered.

Marianne and Asher looked at each other and then at Jake.

Asher shouted, "Tickle kill!"

"Love him!" Marianne shouted at the same time as Asher.

The three of them ended up rolling off the couch, laughing as Marianne and Asher ended up on top of Jake.

* * *

Some time later, Marianne's phone started ringing, which was on the coffee table right by Asher's feet. He was sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of cereal with Matthew as Marianne and Jake were busy.

Asher looked at the phone.

"Are you going to answer that for her?" Matt asked.

"Answering her phone without her permission is like begging for your own mugging," Asher said and looked at the caller ID. It was Iris. He hesitated and answered it. "Marianne's phone, Asher speaking."

"Asher, where is Marianne?" asked Iris is a clipped tone.

Asher glanced behind him at the staircase, "She's with Jake."

"Can you get here?" asked Iris.

"I…rather not interrupt them…when they're"…busy," replied Asher. It was weird describing their newfound to his dad, but it was really uncomfortable with his boyfriend's dad trying hard not to laugh his ass off right there next to him.

Iris sighed, "I don't suppose you have superpowers, do you?"

Now Asher was really nervous, at that. What did she know? "N-no. I've been told that I'm a bit argumentative, which can probably count as a superpower."

"'_A bit?_'" repeated Matt, sounding incredulous.

"I mean, very argumentative," Asher corrected.

"Well, when Marianne gets done, tell her I called," Iris said and hung up.

Asher sent Marianne's phone on the table, and looked at Matt confused. "Am I really that argumentative?"

Matt looked very serious, "You made my son leave your house that one night. And he has a very high tolerance when arguing. I would say, yeah, you are that bad."

Asher looked at his bowl of cereal. "I really need to work on that." He did still feel guilty for that night. It was scary getting into a relationship with another guy, especially since they were dating the same girl at the same time. It was scary because it was the first time Asher was actually interested in another guy. So, in a way, at least in Asher's messed-up thought, it made sense for him to push Jake away. Asher wasn't counting on Jake to be hurt by that though.

"You really do," Matt agreed.

* * *

"So it was a samurai?" asked Marianne again, an hour later. They were in the Cortex, watching the news.

"Yeah," Cisco said, "Just like in your vision."

"And it wants the Flash back," Wally said. He had an ice pack to his shoulder."There are other superheroes in this town."

Marianne looked at the ground, feeling guilty all over again. "But yet, it wants the Flash." She looked up to see Iris giving her a strange look.

"Exactly," Wally said. "Why?"

"It said that it wanted the best," Cisco said.

"The 'best' what?" asked Marianne. "The best speedster, the best fire meta-human, the best illusionist, the best darkness meta-human. Newsflash, there's a lot of 'best' out there."

"Illusionist? Darkness meta-human?" Cisco repeated. "Anyway, if it's the Flash, he wants, it's the Flash he's going to get."

"But the Flash isn't here," Marianne pointed out. She looked at Iris, "Sorry."

"What if he was here?" Cisco asked. "Just us keeping the city safe, we're barely getting it done."

"What if we had extra hands?" Marianne asked. "Two other metas?"

"Where are we going to find two other metas?" Joe asked.

"No," said Iris.

"What?" said Marianne.

"We're not dragging two others into this," Iris said.

"Besides, we can't get him out of the Speedforce. If he goes out, the Speedforce prison goes unstable and the whole world collapses," Joe said.

"Which is what we're trying to avoid," Wally added. "If you hadn't noticed."

"What if I can solve that?" asked Cisco.

"In the next 24 hours?" asked Iris skeptical.

"Marianne told me that Barry is supposed to return tomorrow," Cisco accused.

"She did?" asked Iris, looking at Marianne, as if she just did something terrible.

"I'm a Clairvoyant. I've never been wrong," Marianne said. "Except on tests and stuff, but still. I've never been wrong."

"Anyway, I've been working on this," Cisco said, sounding excited.

"For how long?" demanded Iris. She really didn't sound happy.

That question seemed to burst Cisco's bubble.

Marianne finished, "Since he left."

"Yeah," Cisco said. "Harry's been helping me. So has Harrison, Tess, Tina, Tracey, Felicity, and Curtis. And I'm pretty sure I've figured out how to stabilize the prison, and free Barry without unleashing another lightning storm on the city. I just need a couple more things."

There was silence in the Cortex after that. Marianne watched Cisco go over a keyboard and rapidly typed on it.

"I say it's worth a shot," Marianne said. "He's going to return tomorrow, so he's alive."

"How can you be certain?" snapped Iris.

"I'm sure that Speedforce would have collapsed if Barry died. And from what I heard, it wouldn't have killed him, it doesn't sound _that _evil. And if he was dead, Jake would've told me."

"How would Jake know that?" Wally asked.

* * *

A/N: _"Bang bang..."..."Bang?"_ is a reference to the song Bang Bang by Hollywood Undead, because why not have that thrown in there?

Also, Marianne was singing _Ring of Fire_ by Johnny Cash when she jumped out of her fire teleportation rings.

I'll end it there because it was getting long and to put it on a cliff-hanger, because I'm mean.


	7. The Flash Reborn - Part 2

Chapter 7: **The Flash Reborn Pt. 2**

* * *

"What exactly is Jake's powers?" asked Cisco. "If he can sense death?"

"It's…more complicated than that," Marianne said.

"How so?" asked Wally.

"It's more like…he can manipulate people's fears. He can make you hallucinate your worst fears and he can make you have nightmares," Marianne said. "He can appear in nightmares if he wanted to."

"How do you know that?" asked Iris.

Marianne looked offended, "Do you honestly think that Asher and I would allow Jake to test that on some poor stranger?"

"But how would he know that Barry would die?" asked Wally.

"He has this power to sense and manipulate darkness," replied Marianne. "Like death is connected to darkness. He knew when his neighbor had fallen down the stairs last year and had died. Don't know why he has that "

"That must be horrible," replied Wally. "Sensing death like that."

"He says that it's usually easy to ignore. It's like getting an annoying tingling feeling, but he would know if Barry died," Marianne said.

"So, in a way, he's like Shade," said Cisco.

"No. Not sure who that is, though." Marianne said. "Jake can manipulate shadows. Sort of like a male Raven from _Teen Titans_. Not that _Teen Titans Go!_ crap."

"I like that cartoon from time to time," said Cisco sounding offended.

Marianne looked at him, "People have…different…tastes, even if their taste suck."

Cisco looked really offended.

"You guys," cut in Iris. "As much as I like hearing you two talk about irrelevant stuff, I really don't, but we need a plan to stop the samurai."

"Maybe Jake could help," said Wally. "I can go and pretend to be the Flash, while Marianne and Jake ambush him from behind."

"If Jake's sober enough for that," muttered Marianne.

"He needs AA," muttered Cisco. He knew of Jake's alcoholic problem, but when he met Jake a few times, the guy was sober.

"I heard that," said Marianne.

"You were supposed too," said Cisco.

* * *

It was in the morning when Cisco had called Marianne that he was now ready to attempt to bring Barry back.

Since Asher had to work, Marianne ended up taking Jake with her to watch the show. She held Jake's hand as they walked down what looked to be an airfield.

"Mr. West, Mr. West, Miss Strife, and Mr.…" Cisco stated, trailing off since he never got to know Jake's last name.

"Alexander," Jake finished.

"That's a last name?" muttered Cisco.

"Is Ramon even a last name?" asked Jake.

"Touché," said Cisco.

Jake smiled at that and rested his head on Marianne's shoulder.

"Anyway, what are we doing here?" asked Wally.

"It seemed like an appropriate venue. We've had luck here before," said Cisco.

"Why do we need good luck?" asked Joe.

Jake had stopped and looked up at the sky. "I think today is a good day to get laid."

Marianne rolled her eyes and pulled Jake forward, missing what had been said between Wally, Cisco, and Joe.

"And the five," Cisco said, and looked at Jake, "possibly six," he looked beyond Jake, "or seven of us, can do this."

"I can get six, but seven?" questioned Joe.

"Hello, Joe," a woman said from behind Marianne and Jake.

They turned around to see a brunette woman wearing a leather jacket walk up. She looked uncomfortable.

"It's fine," said Cisco quickly. "She's our Caitlin again. She's here to help us."

"What does he mean by 'our'?" Marianne whispered to Jake.

Jake shrugged, "A giant polyamory relationship, perhaps?"

Caitlin walked up to them and looked at Marianne and Jake. Marianne dragged Jake over to stand by Cisco, to see what he was doing.

Cisco looked up at them. "Where's Asher at anyway?"

"He's at work," said Jake. "He works over at a pizza shop. He always smells like pizza when he gets to his home." He grinned.

Marianne nodded.

"Let's bring everybody home," Joe said.

"So…how are we going to bring Barry back without blowing a hole in the world?" questioned Wally.

"In the spirit of bringing back an old friend," started Cisco walking over to where a sheet covered something. "I present…" He removed the sheet, revealing some sort of gun, "The Speedforce Bazooka." He said something that Marianne couldn't quite catch.

"So, Slipknot, huh?" Wally asked Jake, looking at Jake's shirt.

Jake smiled, "Yeah, I recently got into them. I think _I Am Hated_ is underrated. What do you think is one of their underrated songs?"

"Uh…" Wally started but was interrupted by Caitlin handing a red ball to him.

"You don't listen to Slipknot, do you?" asked Jake.

Wally shook his head, "No."

"Hey, Wally, if you're done talking, can you put that on the center pylon?" asked Caitlin.

Wally ran off.

"Oh, that just gave me motion sickness," Jake said.

"Ready," said Caitlin.

Cisco muttered something.

"What was that?" asked Marianne, but she got sidetracked by a glowing orb levitating down the airfield. "Ooh."

The wind picked up.

Marianne dragged Jake over to where Wally and Joe were standing.

"I'm so excited," Jake said using a high-pitched voice.

Marianne released her hand from Jake's, "I'm going to pretend I don't know you."

They watched as a beam of light from the Speedforce Bazooka shot right into the middle of the orb, creating a breach, before it disappeared.

Marianne and Jake looked at each other.

"Well, that was…" started Marianne.

"Anticlimactic?" finished Jake.

"Disappointing," Marianne corrected.

There was silence and then someone cleared their throat. She turned to see Iris standing there, looking angry or annoyed.

"Maybe he's late," said Jake.

"This is going to be one tense ride back," said Marianne.

* * *

Marianne was right, it was a tense and silent ride back. When they got in the hallway to the cortex, that was when Iris started laying into them.

"I can't believe you did this behind my back," Iris ranted.

"You would've tried to stop me," Cisco said.

"Because it would've been a waste of time," Iris countered. "And Marianne's 'prediction' was wrong. He's not even back."

Cisco went to a monitor. "I don't understand. It should've worked." It sounded like he was talking to himself.

"Or you would've killed us all," said Iris.

"I don't know, Iris," said Caitlin. "I think we were pretty close."

Iris placed her hand on her hip as she glared at Caitlin. "I'm sorry. 'We'?" She looked disapproving. "Where have you been the last six months again?"

"She was only trying to help," Joe said sticking up for Caitlin.

"Look, guys, we need to focus on stopping the samurai and not on Barry," Iris said.

"I don't get it," Jake said right as Cisco turned around. "If Asher was sucked into some sort of prison force thing, I would focus on doing everything I could to bring him back. Even if it would destroy the world."

"I agree. I would burn the world just to bring Asher and Jake back, if that's what it would take," Marianne said.

"Yeah, it's like you don't even want Barry back," Cisco snapped at Iris.

Iris looked like she was going to say something.

"Hey, hey, hey," said Joe, holding his hand out. He answered his phone. "Cecile...Can I call you back in a minute? I'm in the middle of something here." There was a pause and Jake and Marianne looked at each other. Joe seemed shocked, "What?"

* * *

Later, the group walked through the police department with Cecile, but since Cecile was speaking to fast, Marianne couldn't hear what Cecile was saying.

"I knew it would work," Cisco said gleefully. "I knew it."

"And my prediction came true," Marianne said. "As always."

Cecile led the group around the corner and they stopped outside a door.

"You should prepare yourselves," Cecile said.

"For what?" asked Jake.

"This," Cecile said and opened the door to what seemed like an empty room.

They walked in the room and Marianne noticed strange symbols on the walls and the room's only occupant.

Barry was sitting on the ground and writing something on the wall.

"Barry?" asked Iris, sounding a little choked up. Barry looked over his shoulder at the group. "Barry?"

Barry smiled at Iris and then looked confused. "Nora shouldn't be here."

"Your mom isn't here, Barry," Iris said. "It's me, Iris. You're home."

Barry didn't seem to register that. He looked at Marianne and Jake, "Phoenix and Nightmare, is Masquerade still in the hospital with his dad?"

Marianne stared at Barry, "Who?"

"Your Honor, I'm innocent. I didn't do this. I didn't kill anyone," Barry babbled. "Can you hear the stars singing? Rhyming, chiming, timing, every hour, every minute." He had placed his hands over his face.

Marianne was beginning to get a little scared.

Barry looked at Joe and pointed, "You said the city was safe. That there was no residual danger. But that's not true. What really happened that night—"

"The city is safe," Iris interrupted. "You saved it. You saved us all."

"I don't think he's talking about six months ago," said Marianne.

"Stars melting like ice cream," Barry babbled. He said something as he went to the window, but Marianne couldn't make it out. "Nora shouldn't be here and Masquerade is missing."

Marianne couldn't take the sight and stepped out of the room. It was upsetting to see a man so heroic be reduced to a babbling mess.

Jake followed after her. "What's wrong?"

"I can't stand to see him like that," Marianne said. "He's The Flash and there he is, reduced to that. And who the hell is Masquerade?"

"It is disheartening," Jake said. "And maybe it's—what the hell?" Joe had left the room carrying an unconscious Barry.

"We're going to S.T.A.R. Labs," Joe said.

"We're going to get Asher," said Marianne. "He wouldn't want to miss it."

* * *

When the three got to S.T.A.R. Labs, everything was chaotic since it looked like Barry was running around the lab.

"He's to fast!" shouted Cisco, obviously in the middle of a conversation.

There was a blast from a gun and Barry fell onto the ground unconscious and surrounded by frost.

There was silence and they all looked towards Caitlin, who was holding an ice gun.

"What did we miss?" asked Marianne confused.

"We tried to help Barry by playing Lady Gaga, but he didn't have the reaction we were expecting," Cisco explained.

"If you played Lady Gaga for me, I would go crazy too," Asher said.

"We should get him into a containment cell, before he does that again," Joe said.

"I'll help you," Asher said to Joe.

"Thanks," Joe said. "Grab his feet."

Asher and Joe both heaved up Barry's unconscious body and they carried him out.

An alert went off and they turned to look at the monitor.

"The samurai's back," Caitlin said.

"More like Samurai Jackass," Cisco added, "Nope, that's a rough draft."

"You definitely put the rough in rough draft on that one," Jake said.

"It hasn't been a full day yet," said Iris.

"So why is he here?" asked Marianne.

"Let's give him what he asked for," said Wally.

"We can't give him Barry when he's like that," said Marianne.

"That's not what I meant," said Wally. "I'll dress up like the Flash and fight the samurai."

"Wouldn't he know that you're not the real Flash?" asked Marianne.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," said Wally, before running off.

"That is making nauseous," said Jake, grabbing his stomach.

"Or you're going through alcohol withdrawals," muttered Cisco.

"That's not it," said Jake waving Cisco off.

"Well then," muttered Cisco.

"Boys," warned Iris.

Asher and Joe returned to the Cortex. Asher walked over to where Jake, stood behind him, and put his arms around Jake's shoulders. Asher rested his head on Jake's right shoulder.

Caitlin gave the two boys a strange and looked at Marianne. Marianne looked at Caitlin, "What?"

Caitlin looked at Asher and Jake, and Marianne shrugged.

Wally screamed in pain.

"Wally!" shouted Iris.

"I'm on it," Marianne said, creating a ring of fire, before running through it.

"Damn, that's hot," said Asher.

Caitlin gave Iris, Cisco, and Joe a look. "Am I missing something?"

"It's complicated," Asher and Jake said together.

Meanwhile, Marianne appeared in the alley, while the samurai had Wally up in the air by the sword.

"Hey!" Marianne shouted and the samurai threw Wally to the ground at Marianne's feet.

"If I don't get the real Flash by nightfall, the city will come down," the samurai said, before sporting wings from a pack on his back and took off.

"Don't let him get away," said Wally.

Marianne considered her options, but the samurai was already gone. She groaned, but she created a ring of fire, picked Wally up under his arms, and dragged him through the ring, ending up in the Cortex.

Caitlin and Joe were instantly at Wally's side, taking Wally from Marianne.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Marianne as the two led Wally to the medical bay.

"He should be," said Caitlin.

Marianne went over to where Cisco was at. "Anything?"

"Not yet," said Cisco, leaning back in his chair.

"Is it hieroglyphics?" asked Marianne.

Asher walked up and leaned against the doorway of the room that Cisco was in. Asher crossed his arms, "Not that this hasn't been fun…actually it wasn't, but Jake is taking me back to work. I took an hour long break and it's going to be lunch rush in about an hour."

Marianne went over and kissed him bye. Asher looked at Cisco.

Cisco glanced at him, "You're not getting a goodbye kiss from me."

"Good, wasn't even expecting one from you," Asher said, and turned and left.

Marianne sighed.

"Trouble in paradise with your boyfriend?" asked Cisco.

"Not really. Just something that Barry rambled about in the police station, though," Marianne said.

"He said a lot of things," said Cisco.

"No, he called me Phoenix, then he called Jake 'Nightmare,'" said Marianne. "Then he said something about Masquerade being in the hospital with his dad and how he's missing."

"I wouldn't put too much stock in what he said," replied Cisco. "He was talking about his late mother." Marianne grimaced. "What's that face for?"

Marianne grimaced again, "You know, Asher…" She faltered, "Has powers too."

Cisco threw his hands up, "No surprise there."

"He has the power to create illusions," said Marianne. "I mean, he created an illusion to fool that one mugger."

"Which explains why he thought Asher was right next to you and not by Jake," said Cisco, looking like he finally figured the entire thing out.

"Yeah," said Marianne. "Anyway, we used to joke around and come up with codenames for each other, if we were to become superheroes."

"And Asher picked Masquerade and Jake picked Nightmare?" asked Cisco.

"Actually, Asher and I picked Nightmare for Jake, because he couldn't think of something better," said Marianne.

"I can think of something better for Jake," said Cisco. "Now let me be."

"It's actually 'sanitarium, leave me be, sanitarium, leave me alone,' if you're quoting Metallica," said Marianne.

"Yeah, whatever," said Cisco. "Now begone, girl."

"I didn't care too much for the book," said Marianne.

"You know what I mean," said Cisco.

Marianne grinned, "You're just like the older brother I always wanted."

"And you're the annoying younger sister I never wanted," said Cisco. "And I still don't want."

Marianne rolled her eyes at that, but kept smiling. "I'm going to see how Wally is doing."

She turned and went to the med-bay where Caitlin was leaving. "Is he all right?"

"He'll be fine in about five hours," said Caitlin. "I'm going to see if Cisco got anything on the translation."

Marianne went in the medbay where Joe and Wally were at. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, no thanks to that samurai," said Wally. "I should've listened to you on how he knew I wasn't going to be Barry."

"It could've worked," said Marianne.

"Yeah," said Joe.

"I'm going to check on Barry," said Marianne.

"Excelsior!" shouted Cisco.

"I'll go see what he means by that," said Marianne. She had to double turn and went to the room Cisco was in. "What happened?"

"Cisco thinks he cracked what Barry was writing," Iris said.

"And…it says," Cisco started. His face fell. "'This house is bitchin'.'"

"This house is…bitchin'?" repeated Caitlin. "That doesn't sound like Barry."

"No," said Cisco. "No, it doesn't. That's cause it's not."

"It could," said Marianne. "If he's some sort of hipster." She looked at Caitlin, who walked off. She frowned and followed after Caitlin. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Caitlin.

Marianne said, "Something tells me that you're not okay. And I mean, you have a…problem. You sure you're okay."

Caitlin looked confused.

"Oh, don't mind her," said Iris. "She's a clairvoyant."

"She can see the future?" asked Caitlin in a disbelieving tone.

"She's been accurate," said Iris. "So far, at least."

Marianne scoffed at that.

Caitlin seemed intrigued, "Oh really?"

"Yeah," replied Iris.

"I want to do some tests on that," Caitlin said. "Come on…" She trailed off.

"Marianne," said Marianne.

"Marianne," said Caitlin, smiling. "Pretty name. Come on, I want to test your clairvoyance and your fire abilities."

"Test?" asked Marianne. "Is it going to hurt?"

"No," said Caitlin, leading Marianne to the speedlab. "Where did your parents get the name Marianne from anyway?"

"Just my dad, and my grandmother loved the song So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen. She would always play that song to him," Marianne said smiling fondly. "My dad decided to name me Marianne as a tribute to her. She always play that song when we visit her."

"Did your mother think that was sweet?" asked Caitlin. She motioned to some boards. "I want you to catch those boards on fire."

"Oh, my dad is a single-parent," said Marianne looking at the boards. She created a ball of fire and threw it at a board. "Adopted me at birth. He wanted a child, but he couldn't make one."

Caitlin decided not to press the issue. "What is up with your boyfriend and the blond boy?"

"The blond boy's name is Asher," Marianne said. "Jake is the redhead, but he dyes his hair."

"Oh," Caitlin said. "What's going on with them?"

"They seem fine to me," said Marianne.

"Asher had his arms around your boyfriend," said Caitlin.

"Since you're sticking around for a while, I'll let you know," said Marianne. "Asher and Jake are dating."

Caitlin was surprised at that, "Oh."

"And they're my boyfriends, too," said Marianne.

"So, all three of you are dating? Each other?" questioned Caitlin.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Marianne.

Caitlin nodded, "How did that happen?"

"Asher and I were originally dating. Jake was upset and told me that he fell in love with the both of us," said Marianne. "Asher and I discussed it, and allowed Jake in our relationship. Asher denies it, but I kind of noticed how he was flirting with Jake. 'I'm not bi' he told me before he went to flirt with Jake. He got very upset when Jake got together with Laura, though. He was very stilted talking to Jake when Jake dated her."

"I see," said Caitlin.

"Even when we were dating Jake, Asher was still in denial about it. It was two weeks in our relationship they had an argument at, like, one in the morning. In short story form, Jake walked out of the house, saying that he's going to walk home. We got home and they kissed and made up. After Asher explained why he did that."

"Why was Asher pushing him away?" asked Caitlin. "It sounded like he really liked him."

"He should explain that to you," said Marianne. She chuckled, "We didn't tell our dads about our relationship at first anyway. We wanted to see if it would work out before we did."

"Your dads?" asked Caitlin, sounding confused.

"Asher's mom disappeared when Asher was five and Jake's mother got sent to Iron Heights when Jake was fourteen. Their dads are basically single-parents. The only mother figures I had was my dad's best friend, Kayla, my grandmother, and the women my dad dates," Marianne explained as she lit boards on fire. "Anyway, it was two days after that argument Asher had Jake over, and I guess, Adam, Asher's dad, got a little concerned, because he didn't hear any noise come from Asher's room. Adam goes to check in on them." Caitlin started laughing. "He walks in, finds Asher pinning Jake to his bed, both shirtless, and making out very heatedly. Adam goes, 'so, should I leave the house for a few hours?' Then he apparently asks if Jake's going to either stay for dinner or breakfast, depending on good Asher is."

"At least he took it in stride," Caitlin said.

"Asher said that they had an argument after Jake left," Marianne said. "Asher and Adam don't like talking about it. I know that Asher will open up about it, soon, though." She frowned, "I think you should talk to Cisco."

"Why?" asked Caitlin.

Marianne shrugged, "Don't know. I know that he needs a friend right now."

Caitlin looked confused and wandered off.

* * *

Marianne was video chatting with Asher and Jake, although Jake was looking like he was already getting drunk. Asher looked like he was standing in an alley, which was actually the back of the pizza shop he worked at.

"So…" Asher started, but stopped and looked off to the side. "Do you mind? I'm trying to talk to my boyfriend and girlfriend."

"The two people you talk about?" a girl asked. A girl shoved Asher's face to the side and appeared on the screen. "I get to meet them!"

Asher made a disgruntled noise.

"Marianne!" Cisco called.

"Bye," Marianne said. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Asher's girlfriend," the girl said cheerfully.

Marianne ended the call on that one.

"The Samurai's twenty-four hours are up!" Cisco's voice rang out over a loudspeaker. "Suit up, Phoenix."

Marianne sighed. This day was getting better and better. "On my way!"

* * *

A police line had already when Marianne got there. The police and Joe had weapons drawn on the Samurai.

"I don't see the Flash," the Samurai said, turning to the police and Marianne. The Samurai looked at Marianne. "You're not the Flash."

"Afraid not," said Marianne. "But you're going to have to settle for me." She looked at the police officers and Joe, "And them."

The Samurai drew his swords and Marianne stepped forward, but was shouldered out of the way by Iris.

"Iris! Hold your fire!" ordered Joe.

Iris stepped up to the Samurai, "You want the Flash? Take me."

"Iris, what are you doing?" said Marianne.

Iris looked at Marianne and then at the Samurai.

"Why?" asked the Samurai.

"Because he'll come for me," said Iris.

"And how…do you know this?" asked the Samurai.

"I believe," said Iris.

The Samurai seemed to ponder that, before grabbing Iris around the waist and taking flight, leaving Marianne stunned.

"Iris!" shouted Joe.

Marianne created a ring of fire and stepped through it, going to attempt to follow the Samurai and Iris.

Following them was hard. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do when she managed to catch up to them, without hurting Iris in some way or without burning out, which she was already feeling.

She leaned against a building and watched as a bolt of lightning sped right by. She smiled. The Flash was back!

Marianne went back to the Cortex, where the group was looking at a monitor. She slipped off to remove the suit.

* * *

The group were in the medbay when Marianne walked in.

"How was everything when I was gone?" asked Barry.

"Oh, yeah," said Wally. "It was really cool. I got a sidekick."

"Sidekick?" asked Barry.

"Oh, it's me, actually," said Marianne. She held out her hand to Barry. "Marianne Strife, also known as Phoenix. Wally took me in as his sidekick about four months ago."

Barry looked taken aback, but shook Marianne's hand. "Hi, Marianne. Nice to meet you. What are your powers?"

Marianne snapped and held up a ball of fire. "I manipulate fire." She extinguished the flame.

"Oh, it'll be interesting to work with you," said Barry.

"And Team Kid Flash had everything under control," Wally added.

"That's not our name," everyone else, besides Marianne and Barry, choursed.

Barry chuckled at that.

"Besides, we still have some unsolved mysteries left to solve," said Cisco.

Wally nodded.

"You mean the Samuroid?" asked Marianne.

Cisco groaned, "How many times do I have to tell you, I come up with the names around here? But Samuroid isn't that bad."

"Two great minds think alike," Marianne said.

"I'd rather stay far away from your mind," said Cisco.

"Anyway," said Iris, looking at the pieces. "Someone created this for a reason."

"Does the phrase, 'this house is bitchin' mean anything to you?" asked Cisco.

Barry seemed confused and then amused, "No." He looked at the others before looking at Cisco. "Should it?"

Cisco snickered, "No. Just know when you were in your Beautiful Mind phase you were talking straight up nonsense."

Barry looked at them, "I don't remember any of that stuff."

"I was there, you were talking about masquerades and nightmares," Marianne said.

Cisco gave her a look.

"I still can't remember any of that stuff. The last thing I remember was entering the Speed Force with my mom and then saving Iris," said Barry.

"So, how did you know that Iris was in trouble?" asked Joe.

Marianne started, "If—" She was silenced by looks from the others.

"I don't know," said Barry. He looked at Cisco, "Well, thanks for bringing me home." He and Cisco hugged.

Iris walked over to Cisco, "Cisco, thanks for believing in me, when I didn't."

Cisco looked like he was holding back a smile, "See you tomorrow, boss."

And Iris turned to Marianne, "And sorry for brushing off your prediction as inaccurate."

Marianne gritted her teeth, "Apology noted and acceptance pending."

"I'll wait for it," Iris said and the team scattered at that.


	8. Mixed Signals

A/N: Due to Gypsy's name being a slur against Romanians, I'll call her Cynthia, but since they don't know her actual name, so far, Marianne, Jake, and Asher will refer to her as Sea.

The face-claim to Annalise is Rachel McAdams

* * *

Chapter 8: **Mixed Signals**

* * *

Asher and Marianne walked in the Cortex where Iris was at.

"I think you missed something," Asher whispered to Marianne.

"You did," Iris snapped at Marianne. Apparently Asher wasn't that quiet.

"I'll catch her up," Caitlin said quickly, "But it must be nice to have Barry back."

"Yes, yes it is," said Iris. "It's going to take him some time to get used to the new dynamics, that's all."

"You know, when Jake and I got in our relationship, I really sucked at communicating with him," Asher said.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah. He did."

"Mostly on my part," Asher said.

"You know, when Ronnie and I started dating, we went to couples' therapy," Caitlin added.

"At least you haven't almost killed him after one week of dating," Asher said.

"But anyway, communication is key to a healthy relationship," Marianne said to Iris. "Asher, Jake, and I tell each other whatever is bothering us. Even if it would piss us off."

"Look," said Iris. "I appreciate the advice, I do. But Barry and I…we knew each other since childhood, you know. We don't need therapy. We're Barry and Iris, right?"

"Right," said Caitlin, looking unconvinced.

"I guess denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Apparently there's one here in Central City, too," Asher muttered.

"But thanks, though, for the advice," said Iris as she backed away to leave, apparently not having heard what Asher said. "I have nothing against it, though."

"Whatever you say," said Asher in a disbelieving tone.

An alarm went off, making Asher briefly duck, alarmed.

Iris ran back in and looked at the monitor.

"There's an unauthorized breach incoming," said Iris. "We got to move."

Asher blinked and stared, "I'll just stay here and talk to Jake or my dad. Or myself."

Marianne and Iris ran to the exit, but Iris stopped and looked over at Caitlin.

"Caitlin! Are you coming?" Iris asked.

Caitlin had her back towards them.

"Are you okay?" asked Asher.

"I'm fine," Caitlin said turning around.

_Killer Frost_, thought Marianne. She blinked and chose to ignore that thought for the time being.

They ran off and met up with Wally along the way.

"Are you ready?" asked Wally.

"For anything," said Iris, as she and Caitlin pointed weapons at the breach.

Marianne held up her hands, creating balls of fire.

Cisco ran in and stood in front of them, "Whoa! Whoa! Hey! Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" He looked at Marianne, "You, extinguish your fire." Right as he finished saying that, a tanned-skinned woman wearing what looked to be a cat-suit hopped out of the breach.

"Hey," said the woman.

Cisco turned to the woman, "Hey, want to give me a little more notice next time? You know that people that want to kill us come through here, right?"

"Oh," said the woman. She looked over at the group, "my bad guys." She faltered at the sight of Marianne.

"Cisco, that was…very heroic of you for jumping in and protecting Gypsy," said Wally looking very amused for some reason.

Marianne blinked and looked at Wally. "What did you just call her?"

"Gypsy," said Wally confused.

Marianne looked horrified, "Why would you call her that?"

"That's her name, Marianne," said Iris, looking confused.

Marianne looked at the others. She grabbed one of her braids, "You all do know that…that _word_ is a slur against Romanians right?" They stared at her. "My dad and his side of the family is Romanian and I'd feel like I'm insulting him by saying your name, so I'd rather call you Sea, if that's okay with you."

"That's cool," said Cynthia. "I'll respect your heritage and allow you to call me Sea."

"I'm actually adopted," said Marianne. "But like I said, my dad's Romanian and I'll leave third degree burns on you all if you call her that _word_ in front of me."

Cynthia looked at Cisco.

"I don't take her threats lightly," Cisco said to Cynthia. "She tried to burn a man alive for shooting at her and her boyfriends."

"I wasn't going to burn him," said Marianne. "Much anyway."

"Anyway, as you were," said Cisco, waving his hand at them in a dismissal.

Marianne took that as her cue to leave, so she turned and started walking away with Caitlin, Wally, and Iris. Marianne guessed that she had plenty of time to hang out with Asher and possibly Jake before something happens, or maybe she can watch some Markiplier videos.

Asher was sitting in the office chair, watching something on his phone.

"Talking to Jake?" asked Iris, sounding somewhat amused.

"No, I'm just watching some Psychostick videos," said Asher.

Iris, Wally, and Caitlin looked at Marianne confused.

"Psychostick is a comedy metal band," said Marianne.

The two adult women nodded, like it had made sense. Iris looked at Asher, "Hey, Asher, how about Marianne takes you to the speed lab to test out your illusionary powers? I incorporated some tests for you to work on."

"Huh?" asked Asher looking confused.

Before Iris could explain more, the computer monitor went off, and she went over to look over it. Barry came running in to see what was going on.

"Guys," called Iris. "There's a car going 120, swerving between lanes. Someone's going to get killed. You three need to get out there."

"It's one car, I got this," said Barry, before speeding off to get his new suit.

"Phoenix and I—" started Wally before Barry ran off. He finished, "Phoenix and I can help you."

"It's one car," stated Marianne. "I don't see why I would be needed."

"Okay guys, it's a run away," said Barry. "Driver's trapped inside. I'm going to change it's trajectory."

"Okay, then turn 'em left," instructed Iris. "There's a turn off. A runaway truck's coming up. Clear a path and the car will come to a safe stop there."

"No, no, I'm going to push him right," said Barry. "The street's empty there."

"Not that street, they're doing construction on that road, right there!" Asher called out.

"Barry, don't have him go down that road," said Iris.

"What, why?" asked Barry.

"Asher's dad started doing construction on that road three months ago!" shouted Marianne in frustration.

The next few minutes were tense.

"My dad's demanding for an explanation," said Asher. He showed Marianne his phone were there was a guy in a driver's seat, holding a steering wheel in front one of the concrete road barriers.

"Yeah, I would demand for an explanation, too," said Marianne.

* * *

A bit later, they were gathered around the car parts that were on the table. Cisco had finally made his appearance and after telling him what happened, Cisco said, "I know a guy almost died, but what happened to this sexy beast is a tragedy."

Marianne wondered if she heard Cisco correctly. Did he just call a car a sexy beast?

"It could've been a lot worse," said Wally and looked at Barry.

"But it wasn't and that's a good thing," said Marianne.

"I'm sorry guys, but this one is all on me," said Barry.

"You didn't know about the road construction," said Marianne. "So it really wasn't your fault."

Iris came in, "Okay my dad talked to the driver, Tim Kwon, who's fine. He's gonna question him and figure out who did this." Iris looked at Cisco, "Cisco, perk up."

Cisco held up a car part, "Performing auto-topsy." He paused as he went to a computer. "Now."

They went to watch as Cisco hooked up the car part to the computer. A bunch of purple dots came up on the monitor.

"That's just funky," said Asher.

"That looks like the same code from the elevator murder scene," said Barry tilting his head slightly.

Marianne said, "So that means—"

"The hacker has a hit list," finished Iris.

"Can you crack it?" Barry asked Cisco.

"Man, I've been trying to crack this code all day," said Cisco.

Marianne looked at the dots and frowned.

"It…looks like a virus," said Caitlin.

"How can you tell?" asked Asher. "It looks like a bunch of dots to me."

"And me," said Marianne.

"Scootch," said Caitlin to Cisco. She nudged Cisco out of the way with her hip.

"Ooh, I feel violated," said Cisco.

Asher grinned at Cisco, "I can make it worse."

"Marianne, tell your boyfriend to stop flirting with me," said Cisco. "It's really weird."

"Feel good about yourself," said Marianne looking at the monitor as the dots formed a DNA strand. "A teenager finds you attractive."

"It looks like an organic virus," said Caitlin.

Asher groaned, "my head hurts."

"But with a digital subpacer," said Cisco. "Which means the hacker isn't hacking into machines. He's controlling them."

Asher and Marianne looked at each other.

"So our hacker isn't a hacker," said Iris.

"He's a meta-human," finished Barry.

Marianne held up her hand, "Wait. How do we know that the meta is a man?"

"Is there a connection between our two victims?" asked Iris ignoring Marianne's question.

"There's nothing online," muttered Cisco as he touched a monitor.

"Not everything is online," said Asher.

"The names: Weaver and Kwon are very familiar to me," said Cisco. He hit the table, "I started collecting tech magazines in high school. They were like—"

"Those were the magazines you had in high school?" interrupted Wally.

"Not everyone looks at _those_ magazines," said Asher crossing his arms.

Wally asked, "Then what do you have in your room?"

"Word Search booklets," said Marianne staring at the monitor. "He has a large stack of them on his bedside table."

"What does Jake have in his room?" asked Wally, sounding curious and slightly amused.

"Beer bottles," Asher and Marianne said at the same time.

"I think he's trying to start an army," said Marianne. "But he has crossword puzzle booklets."

"Probably buried somewhere underneath his beer bottle army," Asher said.

"Anyway," said Cisco bringing the conversation back around. "I'm ninety percent sure I read those names somewhere."

Asher shrugged, "I had a math teacher called Mrs. Weaver."

"And I'm sure Kwon was a character off of _Danny Phantom_," said Marianne.

"I _read_ them somewhere, not heard them from a character and I never had a teacher named Mrs. Weaver," said Cisco.

"Start digging," said Iris. She looked at Asher, "And I still want you to test your powers." She looked at Barry, "Barry, can I speak to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure," said Barry nodding.

Asher, Marianne, and Caitlin went to the Speed Lab.

* * *

They were in the Speed Lab, Marianne was playing with a fireball while Caitlin examined some large eyes that were on the wall.

Asher was looking at Marianne. "You know, every time Jake stands near you while you play with fire, he says that he keeps expecting wind to pick up and blow his hair into it."

Caitlin and Marianne looked at Asher.

"Really?" asked Marianne.

"Yeah. He told me that, '_I keep waiting for wind to pick up and blow my hair into it. You and Marianne just watch me stop, drop, and scream like a bitch._'"

Caitlin looked confused, "What would you do if his hair did catch on fire?"

"Absorb it and put it somewhere else," said Marianne.

Caitlin looked at Asher, "What other illusions can you create?"

Asher pointed at something and Marianne and Caitlin turned to see Caitlin standing there a little way down the lab.

"Okay, that's kind of creepy. She's just…standing there," said Caitlin.

Iris walked in, "Caitlin…" she trailed off when she noticed the illusionary Caitlin. "I need…" she turned and looked at Asher

"What?" asked Asher.

Iris turned to look at the illusionary Caitlin, who started getting large cracks in her body, before shattering like she was made out of glass. The pieces fell to the ground, leaving nothing behind.

Iris turned to look at Asher, who held up his hands. "I don't know, that always happens when I create illusions."

"It's mostly happens when he creates people," said Marianne.

"His illusions are a form of mental manipulation," said Caitlin. "It's like he creates hallucinations for everyone to see. I haven't really done a proper test yet, so I can't say for sure."

"Well, you're going to have to put that on hold. Deacon took Kwon," said Iris. "We need you to try and find them through cameras."

"Oh, I'll get right on that," said Caitlin. She gave the two teens an apologetic smile, before she hurried away.

Iris looked at the two teens before she turned and walked away.

Asher looked at Marianne and grinned, "Hey, we're alone now."

Marianne gave him a nervous smile. "There's cameras in here."

"Well, there goes my plans of pinning you to the wall and making out with you," said Asher.

Marianne snorted, "Save that for Jake."

Asher nodded and he mused, "He does love being pinned to things."

"I know," said Marianne.

They went back to the Cortex.

"There's no sign of Deacon or Kwon on facial recognition, traffic cameras, nothing," said Caitlin.

"We don't even know if Kwon is still alive," said Wally.

"Jake says that Kwon is still alive," said Asher. "He doesn't know where though."

"Marianne, can you make a prediction on where Kwon is?" asked Wally.

"I just need a map of Central City," said Marianne.

"I'll pull one up," said Caitlin, taking out a tablet.

"We gotta move fast," said Joe. He noticed Barry and Iris. "Where you were you two?"

Barry and Iris said something at the same time.

"Dry cleaners," said Iris. She looked at Cisco, "Cisco, where are you on those bio-digital antibodies?"

"I'm nowhere," said Cisco sitting up in his seat. "In fact, I am somewhere. I'm in the doghouse, apparently, a pan-dimensional doghouse. I don't even know if this doghouse has a door or a window, though if it did, I'll be jumping out of it."

"I see that must've pissed off his girlfriend," said Asher. "What did he do?"

"I'll go talk to him," said Caitlin. She handed the tablet to Marianne before following after Cisco.

Marianne watched as Barry and Iris walked by each other to go in different directions. She and Asher looked at each other.

"I'll think I'll go see how Jake is doing," said Asher. He kissed Marianne on the cheek and walked away.

"Has everyone lost their minds?" asked Joe looking at Marianne.

"I've been wondering that since I joined," said Marianne.

"So, how are you going to get Deacon's position?" asked Joe.

Marianne shrugged. "I think very hard about Deacon and Kwon, hold my hands over the map and the location comes to mind."

"Do you need a map?" asked Joe.

Marianne nodded, "Yeah. It's a very weird process."

She set the tablet down, held her hands over it, closed her eyes, and sighed. Joe watched her for a minute. "Yes, Joe. I'm aware that I look stupid."

"I don't need to look at you to know that you're thinking that. I know that I do," said Marianne, keeping her eyes closed. She took another deep breath again and let it out slowly. She started tapping at the tablet as she stared off into space.

Joe walked over to Marianne and looked at her. He jumped back when he noticed that her pupils nearly covered her irises.

* * *

"Guys, we need you," said Cisco's voice over an intercom. "It's about Deacon."

Marianne walked over to where her friends were at, holding the tablet. There was a live recording of Tim Kwon on one of the monitors.

"I have something to confess," said Kwon on the recording. "Kurt Weaver, Sheila Agnani, and I stole the Kilg malware program from Ramsey Deacon and we sold it for billions, but it was all his idea. We got rich and he got nothing."

"It explains why Deacon's got such a vendetta," said Iris.

"Wouldn't you be angry at what they did?" asked Marianne. "I would."

"Marianne, did you figure out where they're at?" asked Joe.

"Yeah, they went to this abandoned warehouse," said Marianne, handing the table to Caitlin.

"What are you going to do once you find him?" questioned Joe.

"Hit him with this," said Caitlin holding up a pink tube with a silver cap.

"What is that?" asked Joe.

"Deacon's powers are derived from the binary code in his DNA, so we created a compound encoded with a string pattern of ones and zeroes to invert the order of the code," explained Cisco. He fist-bumped Caitlin.

"All I heard was code and then I kind of faded out as soon as you started babbling," said Marianne. "I'm sorry."

"Ones becomes zeroes and vice versa," said Caitlin.

"One plus one plus one," said Cisco.

"All right," said Barry. "We're on it." He pointed at Wally and Marianne with the tube. "Send us the location."

* * *

The Flash and Kid Flash had pulled the shackles off of Tim's wrists. Tim had collapsed to the ground, while Kid Flash and the Flash stood a little ways behind the contraption that Tim was shackled too.

Marianne had gone straight for Tim to make sure that he was all right.

"He and the others destroyed my life," snapped Deacon at the two speedsters.

"Listen," said the Flash. "I know you've been wronged, Deacon, but that doesn't give you the right to take his life." He looked at Marianne who was helping Tim to his feet.

"I smell technology in your suit," said Deacon. "What you got in there?"

Marianne faintly heard Cisco mutter, "oh, crap."

When it clicked what was going to happen. Deacon can control and apparently smell technology. He just said the Flash's suit had technology in it. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together.

She ran over to Deacon, who was advancing on the Flash. She jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Run, Flash. He's going to use that technology in your suit against you!" she shouted. "Deacon! Somewhere deep down, I know you're a good person who's been wrongfully wronged!"

Deacon was struggling to shake off Marianne. "My friend's boyfriend, Jake, was almost killed by his mother when he was fourteen. She got ten years in jail for neglect, verbal child abuse, and attempted murder. They gave her a possibility of parole, which will be reviewed next month. We all think that's one hell of an injustice on their part. Yet, he's not going on a revenge scheme on the jurors, lawyers, and the judge! I, personally, think that he's too lazy to get revenge and the fact that he doesn't know any of their names."

Back in the Cortex, Cisco looked at Joe.

"Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with Jake's case," said Joe.

Cisco told himself to look up the case and give those people unpaid car tickets for delivering a big injustice. He also told himself to give the salty, alcoholic teen a hug if Marianne brings him around to the lab. Right after he removed the tech from the suit.

Back in the warehouse, Deacon managed to throw Marianne off his back. As she hit the ground, she groaned, "Well, that hurt."

Deacon screamed and Marianne looked up to see a bunch of glowing purple numbers on Deacon's face.

The purple tube was sticking out of his chest.

Marianne turned to look at Wally who was making sure Tim was all right. After all, the guy almost had his arms ripped off.

"Well, that was something," said the lone girl.

* * *

"I'm so sorry," said Wally to Marianne, a little later, after Deacon got hauled off to Iron Heights.

"For what?" asked Marianne.

"For what happened to Jake," said Wally. He wasn't sure why he was apologizing, but it seemed right.

Marianne glared at the warehouse wall, "That was the biggest injustice I had ever seen. Ten years with the possibility of parole for attempted murder, child neglect, and and verbal abuse. Telling her own child 'I hate you' every single day for fourteen years. No sign of affection. All he had was a comforter, a mattress, and clothes in his room. And they just gave her ten years.

"To add insult to injury, after she got her sentence, she told him 'I hate you' before being led away. Isn't any wonder why he's an alcoholic? Besides his dad refusing to take him to therapy."

"If he knows that she gets out in ten years, why doesn't he want to know when she gets out?" asked Wally.

"Her parole thing," said Marianne. "He doesn't want to know if she's getting parole or not."

"Is she?" asked Wally, sounding a little disgusted.

"I better get going. Got to apologize to Jake for revealing, as he calls it, his 'sob story," said Marianne. "You better not show him any pity or sympathy when you see him. He finds it annoying, but he does appreciate it."

"I get it," said Wally.

"Thanks," said Marianne before creating a fire ring and walking through it.

* * *

The blonde woman walked up to the door that was labelled:

**RALPH DIBNY  
****PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR**

She stopped when she saw that someone had crossed out 'INVESTIGATOR' and put 'DICK' on it. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Ralph.

The woman, Annalise, walked in and sat in the chair, putting her purse on her lap. She noticed how Ralph seemed to straighten up in his chair.

"How can I help a pretty young thing like you?" asked Ralph.

"I'm looking for someone," said Annalise.

"A missing husband?" asked Ralph. "I'm sure that you can do a lot better than that loser."

"Actually, I'm looking for my son," said Annalise.

Ralph leaned back a little. "I see." He grabbed a notepad.

"I know he's still here," said Annalise. "He and my ex-boyfriend moved."

"How do you know that they moved?" asked Ralph, as he wrote things down.

"I showed up to our previous house and they weren't there," said Annalise. "I don't know why I thought they would stay in the same house for twelve years, but they moved. I even tried looking for them on media and tried calling them, but nothing."

"Oh, so you're the one who ditched them?" asked Ralph.

Annalise stared at him, "It's really difficult to explain. I just want to see my son. In March he turns eighteen and I just want to explain to him why I left before his birthday comes. However, I can't do that when I can't find him."

"All right," said Ralph. "I'll look for him. What is his name, by any chance?"

"Asher Thorne," said Annalise. "T-H-O-R-N-E. His father's name is Adam."

Ralph nodded, "That will be two hundred dollars and a date with yours truly. Me."

Annalise held back a grimace, "The money will be arranged, but cancel the date, and you got yourself a deal."

Ralph nodded. "Okay. Just leave your phone and I'll call you once I find him." He moved the notepad to Annalise.

She wrote down her phone number on the notepad. "Thank you for your service." She grabbed her purse and walked out the office door.

Ralph looked down at his notepad. "Asher and Adam Thorne, huh?"

* * *

A/N: I feel like Deacon controlling Barry's suit could've been averted if Wally had gotten up, grabbed the code tube, and put in Deacon's chest, as Deacon was distracted with Barry.


End file.
